With the opening of the first 50 km stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train service due in August 2026, Vivek Kumar Gupta, MD, National High Speed Rail Corp. Ltd (NHSRCL) tells Manish Pant in this exclusive interaction that economic growth and the aspiration to travel faster is creating a deman...
With the opening of the first 50 km stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train service due in August 2026, Vivek Kumar Gupta, MD, National High Speed Rail Corp. Ltd (NHSRCL) tells Manish Pant in this exclusive interaction that economic growth and the aspiration to travel faster is creating a demand for bullet train services.
How does the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project uphold the Indian Railways鈥� legacy as a primary transporter in India?
If you see the legacy of Indian Railways in India, it is now more than 170 years old. In the last 100 years, the train speeds have stagnated. While the speed of select trains increased from 110-120 to 120-130 kilometres per hour a quantum increase in the average speed was missing. This was due to various constraints in the existing system such as bottlenecks posed by mixed traffic scenarios where goods and passenger trains ply on the present system. However, India鈥檚 emergence as the world鈥檚 fastest-growing major economy reiterates the development of a robust communication ecosystem with transport being its major component. And until we offer faster rail-based travel options to passengers, the demand needs to be catered to by other modes of transport such as air or roads. But then they don鈥檛 inspire confidence or provide the same safety level and comfort as rail transport. Therefore, a high-speed train travelling at an average speed of 200 kilometres per hour vs. a train travelling at 80 kilometres per hour delivers two-and-a-half times more average speed and integrates the various cities and economies. High-speed rail services have transformed the economy, society and urban demography in other parts of the world. It is in this scenario that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor was conceived. I am happy to share with you that we are at a stage where we can look forward to commissioning it in the not-too-distant future.
How is the project helping the building
of a high-speed rail ecosystem in
the country?
Presently around 30,000 workers are directly engaged in the corridor鈥檚 construction. The work has also generated hundreds of indirect employment opportunities. And once completed, other than the economic benefits, this will also transform areas like passenger experience, comfort, information systems, ticketing, etc. Also, the way components, technology and the latest digitisation initiatives are incorporated into the project.
How is the project a disruptor in the rollout of cutting-edge railway engineering technologies?
We are fortunate to have the Japanese supporting this entire project. With high-speed railway services operational since 1964 in Japan, they are known for the high quality of their protocols, systems and work methodology. Acquisition of their Shinkansen system is helping us get the best-in-the-world materials and technology. With this project, the thinking around construction, maintenance and technology in railway projects will also undergo a sea change.
At the same time combined with Japanese efficiency and technology, you also have Indian ingenuity whose examples we witness in different parts of Indian Railways. Any example that you might like to share here?
Yes! 鈥楳ake in India鈥� is one of the major parts of the project. One of the clauses inserted in the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe in 2015 said Make in India would have to be imbibed during the entire construction process. This has helped us in getting not only the technology but also innovate. Very recently we launched 3,000-tonne girders. These were earlier planned to be built in Japan and then transported here. But it is to the credit of the Japanese who made the effort to visit our factories to select six facilities for manufacturing these girders locally under the supervision of international experts. The entire manufacturing and welding processes have been upgraded for this. This will result in around 60,000 metric tonnes of steel fabrication in Indian factories! Similarly, we have innovated in construction technology to go beyond what the Japanese had planned. I will share an example of full-span girders. We are making 40-metre PSC (Prestressed Concrete) box girders, with each girder weighing around 1,000 tonnes. In their own country, the Japanese have done 35-metre girders. The 40-metre girder designed with support from Japan is now being used in the construction of best-in-quality viaducts.
A lot of track machinery initially proposed to be imported from Japan, is now being manufactured in India under the transfer of technology. Also, several other components including the rolling stock, systems and the track that weren鈥檛 part of the original scheme of things are planned for manufacturing or assembly in India.
With rising aspirations passenger
safety has become an important talking point in rail travel. How are you laying
the foundation of a strong safety ethos from day one?
In the high-speed rail, manual intervention in maintenance will be minimal as everything from structures to the rolling stock is instrumented. We will install highly specialised early earthquake detection, rainfall, rail temperature and wind speed monitoring systems. These are part of an inbuilt disaster management protocol. The Japanese Shinkansen system has a zero-passenger fatality record and we have taken the entire technological protocols from there. I want to share something important here. You mentioned the rising aspirations in India; as against
8 billion people taking trains in a year, nearly
40 million people are now travelling by air every month. So, a substantial share of our countrymen aspires to travel faster. And this is where the high-speed train is relevant. If the growth in air travel is at 11 per cent CAGR, 40 million new passengers are getting added every year. Therefore, high-speed rail travel needs to expand significantly to fulfil that aspiration.
Despite the talk of cost overruns on account of challenges due to delays with land acquisition in Maharashtra, why is India鈥檚 upcoming bullet train important when it comes to ensuring ease of travel?
I can tell you with certainty there is no significant change in the cost of this project. The contracts for civil construction and laying down the track are well within our tentative sanctioning estimates. Yes, there were challenges in land acquisition but that happens with any major project across sectors. The Maharashtra challenge is also now over. We have acquired the entire land and work is in full swing. The overall project cost won鈥檛 be a challenge because we have obtained the Japanese yen loan at a 0.1 per cent interest rate, which is nominal. Besides, the yen has depreciated tremendously. So, our JPY to INR costing remains at the sanctioned level.
Have you worked out any estimates on ticket pricing?
We are a price-sensitive people. We are
also at a point where railway AC fares compete with airfares. World over high-speed train services or, for that matter, any rail-based transport system needs some additional non-fare revenues, which we also plan to build into our services to keep ticket prices competitive and affordable.
What are the various streams of non-fare revenue that you may be looking at? Does that include railway station monetisation?
It鈥檚 not exactly monetisation of stations. But, yes, we have schemes like commercial development of stations and the area in their periphery. We are in close contact with the state governments for the development of up to 800 metres area under a mega development plan. Revenues generated from the project influence areas should help offload some pressure from the fares.
There is also this added aspect of integrating the high-speed rail network with other transport鈥�
This multimodal integration is important because cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai or Surat have plans for rail-based mass transit systems. We will, therefore, provide integration with the metro rail, bus or any other available transport system. We are also looking at integrating the different information systems to inform the passengers regarding other available modes of travel from our stations.
The two new mega airports coming up in Greater Noida and Navi Mumbai are expected to result in the development of aerotropolises. Do you see the upcoming high-speed rail line abetting the growth of townships where you have the stations?
India already has 50-plus cities having a population of 10 million. And the urbanisation indices are going up. It was some 30 per cent earlier and is now estimated to be around
45 per cent. In any urban cluster, the requirements and aspirations are different the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor will likely help in decongesting Mumbai. People may move to places like Virar and Boisar where our stations are coming up. In countries like Japan, the high-speed railway has helped declutter big cities.
With the homegrown semi-high-speed Vande Bharat services being rolled out, is there still adequate scope for the high-speed railway?
We are not competing with any other
mode of transport be it rail, road, or air.
I feel we must all have a mentality of abundance. India is a country of 140 billion people. And be it railway or airline, you have a waiting list. The high-speed rail will cater to a specific segment, while the Indian Railways will continue offering the Vande Bharat, Shatabdi and Rajdhani services. Ultimately, different passenger segments will both use and complement the various train services.
How many high-speed tracks will India need in the coming years?
The National Rail Plan of 2021 has identified 11 high-speed corridors. We are mentally, technologically and financially well-equipped to work on other corridors as and when they are considered for approval. The experience of building the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor has equipped us to efficiently develop similar corridors high on safety and reliability to fulfil India鈥檚 aspirations.
- Manish Pant
