Lalu plans bullet trains in India

Fresh from a ride on Japan's famed bullet train, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Monday said his ministry was in the process of appointing global consultants for introducing the high-speed trains on certain routes.

"The day is not far off when the bullet train will run in the country," Prasad said. "We are in the process of appointing global consultants for introducing bullet train on certain routes," he said.

About the possible routes for running such trains, he said "we are examining the possibilities of running it on some routes including Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Delhi-Chandigarh and Delhi-Patna".

During his visit to Japan last week, Prasad had got a first hand experience of the fast trains travelling from Tokyo to Kyoto at a speed of about 300 km per hour.

Asked about his bullet train experience, he said "It was very good. The bullet trains are well managed in Japan."

Meanwhile, the Railways have invited global tenders for conducting pre-feasibility study of high-speed train corridor on the Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar route.

The study will focus on technicalities, financial and operational viability of the project, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Besides the Delhi-Amritsar route, the Railways have decided to conduct pre-feasibility studies for four more high-speed passenger routes.

The routes are Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Hyderabad- Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore- Ernakulam and Howrah-Haldia.