Full coverage: Modi, Abe kick off India's first bullet train but several hurdles remain


Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid the  foundation stone for the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Network, commonly known as the bullet train, in the Gujarat city."My good friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a far-sighted leader. He took a decision two years ago to bring high-speed train in India and to create a new India," he said."I hope to enjoy the beautiful scenery of India through the windows of the bullet train when I come back here in a few years," said Shinzo Abe after laying the foundation 
stone.Around Rs 1.10 lakh crore will be spent on the project that is being partially funded by Japan. Out of the Rs 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs 88,000 crore. The interest on this loan is minimal at 0.1 per cent and it is to be repaid in 50 years, with a grace period of 15 years.

The train will stop at each of the 12 railway stations on the route,but only for 165 seconds. A 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, of which seven km will be under water. However, land acquisition could be a major hurdle for the project Acquiring 825 hectares of land may become a major hurdle for the completing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project by 2022.Experts said advancing the project’s deadline by a year to August 2022 may not be feasible considering the complex land acquisition process involved. Of the Rs 1.10 lakh crore investment required for the project, Japan is providing Rs 88,000 crore as a soft loan at 0.01 per cent interest. However, release of the Japanese funding is linked to land acquisition.

Initial feasibility reports have identified 163 villages in eight districts of Gujarat, 44 villages in three districts of Maharashtra and some areas in Dadra and Nagar Haveli for land acquisition. About 2,761 families will be affected. More details on that here And is the travel on a bullet train really affordable? Though the fare structure for Rs 1.10 lakh crore is yet to be finalised, the initial estimates suggest that the high-speed rail fares are likely to be 1.5 times the existing first class AC train tickets. The current fare of AC first class on Ahmedabad-Mumbai route is in the range of Rs 1,700-2,300, while flight tickets start from Rs 2,000 onwards. This means a traveller will have to pay much more than existing flight ticket prices to travel on bullet trains. Read more



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