Does India need a bullet train?: 

Does India need a bullet train?: 

Context

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train was launched recently in India and has been a reason of lot of debate with some saying that it is a vanity project which has little or no justification on the grounds of economic viability or public service.

Other Countries experience with bullet train(High Speed Rail)

• Japan’s pioneering Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo to Osaka, passes through the biggest industrial and commercial centres, caters to almost 50% of Japan’s population, and carries more than 150 million passengers annually.
• South Korea’s Seoul-Busan HSR caters to almost 70% of the population, yet struggles with viability.
• France’s fabled Paris-Lyon HSR service has had to periodically receive substantial subsidies.
• the U.S. is tentatively initiating a San Francisco-Los Angeles corridor, and is still unsure about the densely populated industrial-commercial Philadelphia-Boston-New York-Washington DC corridor.
• Turkey’s Ankara-Istanbul HSR line is the only example from a middle-income country, and the jury is still out on its viability.
  

Why bullet train is not feasible for India ?

Economic concern

• The main problem is viability, given the huge costs involved.
• The Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR costs around Rs. 1 lakh crore. Estimates in the project report by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad show that at least 1 lakh passengers at fares of Rs. 4,000-Rs. 5,000 would be required daily for the project to break even
• The air fares between the two cities are around Rs. 2,500.
• Many business analysts have pointed out that the repayment amount will amount to Rs. 1.5 lakh crore over 20 years allowing for exchange rates and comparative inflation leading to outflow of forex

Social concern

• Subsidies appear inevitable. Subsidies for agriculture, education and healthcare are being reduced, but subsidies for the rich seem unproblematic.
• over 90% of rail passengers in India travel by sleeper class or lower class for thousands of kilometres.

Why India is moving ahead with HSR project

• There are a lot of commercial and industrial establishments in this region. As a result, this sector will witness benefits and increase economy of scale in the region
• Reduce travel time to 2hr
• This corridor will also take some passenger load off the existing Mumbai-Ahmedabad line, thereby creating passenger capacity for towns which are not served by the high speed rail link.
• This Project has “Make in India” & “Transfer of technology” objectives. Therefore lead to skill development
• This project will also open up new venue of employment