Title - High-speed rail corridor feasible: Consortium

KOLKATA: In a state where a sizeable chunk of the population supports the decision not to raise train fares, will people be ready to shell out Rs 1,000 or more to cover the 135-odd kilometres between Haldia and Kolkata in less than an hour? This is the question doing the rounds, now that the Spanish consortium engaged by the Indian Railways to conduct a pre-feasibility study on a high-speed railway corridor between Kolkata and Haldia has stated that it is possible to run trains between the two locations at 200-300 km per hour.The ministry of railways, in consultation with state governments, proposed high speed corridors between Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Pune- Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulum, Howrah-Haldia and Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna. It was also proposed to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority ( NHSRA) for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these projects. It was estimated that the construction cost per km would be Rs 75-100 crore. "The consortium of M/s INECO, M/s PROINTEC and M/s Ayesha (the consultant) was engaged to conduct a pre-feasibility study. The study was completed earlier this year and the report stated that it is feasible to build an elevated corridor from Kolkata (Howrah) to Haldia. Some companies from Japan have also expressed their interest in providing high-speed trains for these corridors. However, all these projects will be extremely cost-intensive. It has been estimated that the Haldia-Kolkata stretch (the smallest one) will cost over Rs 10,000 crore. Unlike other railway networks in the country, the rate of return will have to be high for the high-speed trains. Though a feasibility report has not yet been prepared, passengers would need to pay at least Rs 10 per km," an official said.

Though Haldia is an industrial township and there is a demand for better connectivity from Kolkata, officials aren't sure whether this ambitious project will be financially viable. In the past, a catamaran service between Kolkata and Haldia had to be closed down due to lack of adequate patronage.

"If high speed trains are to be run, an elevated corridor is the only solution. Given the situation in the country, land acquisition is a very difficult proposition. For an elevated corridor, we would require only small patches of land for the pillars. The tracks and electric supply would also be quite different from those used by Indian Railways now. The tracks would have to be fenced to prevent people or animals from crossing over.

Running services are also expensive as power requirements will be much higher. An elevated corridor is much more expensive than surface tracks though. Laying tracks on the surface costs much less and a lower rate of return can be considered," the official said.

People are now wondering whether the route from Howrah to Haldia for the high speed corridor was a right choice. The railways could have selected a longer route which is in greater demand.