Date:17/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/17/stories/2007071750600100.htm

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Railways seeks private participation to introduce high-speed trains

S. Vydhianathan

An in-depth market survey on clientele necessary: Thomas Varghese

CHENNAI: The Railways is looking for public-private partnership to in introduce ing high-speed trains in select corridors.

As such high-speed trains can be operated only on dedicated elevated corridors, costing at least Rs. 70 crore a per kmilometre, private participation has become imperative, according to Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese. There are demands for bullet trains from Chennai to Ernakulam, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Madurai and from Trivandrum to Mangalore.

The Railway Board Chairman recently held detailed discussions with Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on this issue. As heavy investments are needed to realise these demands, an in-depth market survey on possible clientele who could afford to pay fares on a par with those of airlines would have to be carried out.

A bullet train between Chennai and Bangalore would be ideal in view of the increasing passenger patronage between the cities, Mr. Varghese said in an interview on Monday.

The Railway Board recently decided to have at least one high-speed corridor in each zone. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had written to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, asking him to consider the possibility of operating bullet trains from Chennai to major cities in the State. Mr.Varghese, who is laying down office on Wednesday after serving in the Indian Railways for over 35 years, said during his two-year stint as General Manager there were no major accidents in the zone. in Southern Railway. However, he admitted that there were deaths in fatal accidents at unmanned railway crossings, for which the Railways could not be held responsible.

Claiming that the total revenue of the zone had been on the rise, Mr.Varghese said that it had recorded 12 per cent increase in total earnings in the first three months of the current year. Despite the uptrend in the earnings, the operating ratio was more than 100 per cent. Thanks to the various steps taken by the zone, the ratio came down from which was 115 per cent in the year before last year came down to 104.5 per cent last year. This meant that for every rupee earned, the zone was spending Rs. 104.5. To break even,

To break even, the freight traffic had to be improved substantially. The General Manager said the Board had been sanctioning funds generously for undertaking various ongoing projects, passenger amenities and for improving safety. With the sanctioned funds, the zone would be able to complete the ongoing projects at the earliest.