After Japan, Germany is now eyeing a high-speed railway project in India.
German ambassador to India Martin Ney on Thursday presented the final feasibility report for a high speed rail corridor on the Mysuru-Bengaluru-Chennai route before Railway Board chairman Ashwini Lohani.
The proposed line is nearly 435km long. It seeks to cover the distance in two hours twenty-five minutes, at a maximum speed of 320 kmph.
The Shatabdi train running between Bengaluru and Chennai takes five hours. The distance between Mysuru and Chennai takes seven hours.
The Germans had proposed that high-speed railway should be integrated with the existing rail lines to reduce land acquisition issues but the railway ministry felt that there were too many implementation issues with such a model and preferred a dedicated high-speed rail corridor.
This final proposal by Germany aims to implement the project by 2030 at a cost of one lakh crore. According to the proposal, 85 percent of the line is proposed to be elevated and 11 per cent through tunnels.
India is partnering with Japan in developing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor with the latter providing 80 per cent of the funding (Rs 79,000 crore) as a soft loan.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor is expected to become operational by 2022. The 508km line will have 21km of under sea tunnels.
The high-speed rail corridors are often considered as an alternative to air travel.