A high point of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Japan visit was the signing of agreements spanning trade, infrastructure etc, in which the Bullet Train project figured prominently. An understanding is that Japan’s next-gen E10 Shinkansen trains would be launched simultaneously in India and Japan, with the Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector getting set for the launch. While a substantial amount of work related to the bullet train service has been completed, mainly in the Gujarat sector, work is progressing along the Maharashtra stretch too. The 508km stretch would eventually see high-speed trains ferrying passengers at a speed of around 300km per hour. Promises are that the works would be completed in another five years’ time, and that partial operations could commence in two years.
Notably, the bullet train project, initially conceived by the UPA, was taken forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s NDA government immediately after he took charge in 2014. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai sector was selected for the pilot project, with local funding from the Centre and the two state governments apart from that of Japan. Reports are that a sum of nearly Rs 80,000 crore has been spent so far. Of the 28 steel bridges, only nine have been completed. A major milestone was the recent opening of the first section of the 21km undersea tunnel between Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex and Thane. A big disappointment, however, is over the drag that typified this major infrastructure project. Modi has completed two terms in power and is currently into the third five-year term, which could last till 2029. It is unlikely that the pilot project could see near-completion by that time, considering the delays that plagued its implementation so far. Admittedly, a change of government in Maharashtra for a period, when the BJP was out of power during this phase, caused uncertainties for the project.
The Shiv-Sena-NCP-Congress government stopped funding the project during this period. With the BJP returning to power in the state in alliance with breakaway factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP, the cooperation for the project was revived. But, even the progress of the works along the Gujarat sector remained slow. This largely is a problem with the mindset and less with financial support. Notably, the technical expertise for the project came from Japan, alongside funds too. Governments as well as the bureaucracy in this country move at a snail’s pace. Paperwork and even petty sanctions get caught in bureaucratic lethargy and red tape. Egos clash. Japan started its high-speed bullet train project half a century ago. China today runs trains at double the speed of Japan’s bullet trains. Trains that run with Magnetic Levitation (MagLev) technology in China claim a speed of more than 600km per hour. Notable also is the fact that the Vande Bharat trains, introduced with much fanfare by the Modi government in recent years, boast of a speed of no more than 150km. Indian tracks are yet to facilitate a speed of more than 200km per hour. The bullet train dream still remains a mirage.
