Chennai–Bengaluru high-speed rail corridor

The Chennai–Bengaluru high-speed rail corridor (or Madras–Bangalore high-speed rail corridor) is a proposed 340-kilometre long (210 mi) high-speed railway line that connects two major economic and state capitals in the southern parts of the Republic of India, Chennai and Bengaluru.[1][2]

Chennai–Bengaluru high-speed rail corridor
Overview
Other name(s)Madras–Bangalore high-speed rail corridor
LocaleIndia
TerminiChennai
Bengaluru
Technical
Line length340 km (210 mi)

Construction has yet to begin and the project still remains standing as a distant proposal. Several feasibility studies have been completed, notable by Germany and China.[3] The Indian High Speed Rail Commission requested for route designs to be tendered in February 2020.[4]

The proposal would see the journey times between the two cities reduced to around ninety minutes with upgrading work costing around 200Rs/km.[5]

History

The current journey from Chennai to Bengaluru run at 55 km/h (34 mph) and takes 6–7 hours to complete, with ticket prices starting for Second Seating as little as ₹150 and for Sleeper Class at ₹230. The Shatabdi Express runs at an average of 70 km/h (43 mph), covering the distance in 5 hours with ticket prices starting at ₹975.[6]

Karnataka Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, suggested that the state wanted to run bullet trains to Chennai, and was conducting talks with his counterparts in Japan about the topic.[7] He commented that the journey could be done in less that one hour though no studies had yet been conducted prior to those words.[3]

A feasibility study by China on the project was submitted to the Federal Government in June 2015.[8] While Germany also proposed to conduct its own feasibility study at the same time.[9] The then Railways Minister, Suresh Prabhu, suggested that the route would be one of the next high-speed railways to be implemented in India.[10]

Japan Railway Technical Service (JARTS) and Oriental Consultants submitted a feasibility study in early 2016 about constructing the high-speed railway line through a PPP with the government.[11] In mid-2016, the government of Andhra Pradesh floated a Special Purpose Vehicle to support the creation of high-speed railways passing through the state.[12] French state-owned company SNCF also expressed an interest in building a high-speed railway line too.[13]

In early 2017, Indian Railways (IR) responded to a proposal by Elon Musk for a Hyperloop to connect the two cities in thirty minutes, saying that it would be unlikely due to government bureaucracy.[14]

During the June 2017 opening of Bengaluru's Green Line, Japan’s Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu, suggested that the railway line should be built with support from Japanese development funds.[15]

Description

The high-speed railway line would mainly be built alongside the existing railway between the two cities. However, a 38-kilometre long (24 mi) viaduct between Bangarapet and Vaniyambadi, as well as a 44-kilometre long (27 mi) viaduct between Katpadi and Arakkonam, would need to be constructed due to hilly terrain.[16]

There would be two new railway stations built underground in Bengaluru, while Chennai would witness the high-speed trains, running at around 350 km/h (220 mph), terminating at its existing central station.[16]

See also

References
  1. "High-speed rail: Germany to study Chennai-Bangalore-Mysore route". The Economic Times. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  2. "High-speed B'luru-Chennai rail may be scrapped". The Times of India. 28 January 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  3. "High-speed rail: Germany to study Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru route". Star of Mysore. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  4. www.thenewsminute.com https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/bids-invited-route-design-mysuru-bengaluru-chennai-high-speed-rail-corridor-118069. Retrieved 25 June 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. "Business Bytes: Survey on for bullet train service between Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai". Construction Business Today. VOL Media Pvt Ltd. 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  6. "B'LURU-CHENNAI RAIL - High-speed train may be scrapped". Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  7. "Karnataka to operate bullet trains from Bangalore to Mysore and Chennai". Railway Technology. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  8. "Projects: Chennai-Bangaluru-Mysore". High Speed Rail Corporation of India. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  9. "Study of High Speed Rail Project from Germany on Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru sector". Mysuru Today. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  10. "Suresh Prabhu promises new bullet train routes". dna. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  11. "(untitled)". Construction Intelligence Center. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  12. "High-speed trains from Amaravati to Chennai soon". The Hindu. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  13. "Reality check on bullet train ambition". The Telegraph. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  14. "Chennai to Bangalore in Just 30 minutes - Hyperloop's high-speed train headed to India". Detechter. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  15. DH News Service (18 June 2017). "Japan pushes for B'luru-Chennai high-speed rail". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  16. "Bangalore to Chennai Bullet Train". Webeo Transportation. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
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