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| As India speeds up, the country wants less of this... |
The introduction of high-speed links and bullet trains were one of
the key poll campaign promises of India’s new right-wing prime minister,
Narendra Modi, who won elections in May.
Thursday’s test, part of the government’s plans to upgrade the
ageing rail network, saw the train complete the 200 kilometres between New Delhi
and Agra in around 90 minutes. The top speed clocked at 10 kilometres more than
the previous record.
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| ...and more of this. |
While fast by Indian standards, the train is some way from the
Japanese “Shinkansen” admired by Modi which reach speeds of 320 kilometres an
hour. The Indian media labelled it a “semi-high-speed train” or
“semi-bullet“.
India is set to roll out extensive plans to overhaul India’s
massive but loss-making network on Tuesday when the Modi government will present
its first railway budget.
Observers say the railways have been neglected by successive
governments over the past three decades of rapid economic growth during which
car ownership has surged and low-cost airlines have mushroomed.
But it continues to be one of the main modes of long-distance
travel for most of India’s 1.2 billion people, while increased use of the tracks
for freight could help ease road traffic congestion.
Similar high-speed rail corridors are being planned between New
Delhi and the northeastern city of Chandigarh, and the national capital and the
industrial town of Kanpur 500 kilometres away.
“The cost of upgrading tracks, signal systems and other related
infrastructure isn’t high on some of the corridors which already have other high
speed trains,” Sachan told AFP.
“We are confident of expanding it once this project is completed,”
he added. -- Sapa-AFP.
