Lok Sabha Question No. 503 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: High Speed Train Projects
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Krishna Pal Singh Yadav, Sujay Radhakrishna Vikhepatil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 503 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## HIGH SPEED TRAIN PROJECTS

503. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

PROF. RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

DR. HEENA GAVIT:

DR. KRISHNA PAL SINGH YADAV:

DR. SUJAY RADHAKRISHNA VIKHE PATIL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Railways is working on a multi-pronged strategy of running high speed trains (300 kilometre per hour), semi-high speed trains and running  of  existing  trains  with  increased  speeds,  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (b)  the  details  of  blueprint  regarding  introduction of these high speed trains along with the phases and sectors in which these are likely to be introduced;
- (c)  whether  any  MoUs/agreements  have  been  signed  with  foreign companies for the above projects and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the present progress of trails of running Talgo trains and the time by which it would be operationalised in select sectors?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (c):  At  present,  only  one  High  Speed  Rail  Project  with  design speed  of  320-350  Kmph  between  Mumbai  and  Ahmedabad  is  under implementation with technical and financial assistance from Government  of  Japan.  A  memorandum  of  understanding  (MoU)  has been signed with Government of Japan for providing a soft loan for 81% cost of Mumbai- Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project.

Further, the survey and preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the  following  Seven  (7)  High  Speed  Rail  (HSR)  Corridors  have  been undertaken:-

- (i)
- Delhi - Varanasi
- (ii)
- Delhi-Ahmedabad
- (iii)   Mumbai-Nagpur
- (iv)   Mumbai-Hyderabad
- (v) Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru
- (vi) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar
- (vii)   Varanasi-Howrah

However,  none  of  the  above  Corridor  is  sanctioned  and  the  decision regarding  these  may  depend  on  various  factors  such  as  outcome  of and

DPR, techno-economic feasibility, availability of resources financing options etc.

Two Semi-High Speed (SHS) 'Vande Bharat' trains (Chair Car) between New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra are already running in service over Indian Railways (IR). In addition, more than  100  'Vande  Bharat'  trains  are  planned  to  be  manufactured  at Integrated Coach Factory (ICF). Further, more rakes of energy efficient 'Vande Bharat' rakes of modern technologies are planned by IR along with selected technology partners.

The Government has also decided for raising of sectional speed to 160 VadodaraAhmedabad) and New Delhi-Howrah (including Kanpur-Lucknow) routes kmph on the existing New Delhi-Mumbai (including and the works for the same are in progress.

(d): The trials of Talgo coaches was carried out in 2016. However, no timeline for introduction of these coaches on IR has been decided.

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