Date:14/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/14/stories/2009011456111100.htm

National

Lalu Prasad gets a feel of bullet train

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, now in Japan to shore up funds for the proposed dedicated freight corridor, got a feel of the high-speed bullet train on Tuesday. Mr. Prasad, who is said to have carried his own basket of eatables, boarded the Shinkansen, the Japanese name for the bullet train, from Tokyo for a 2 hour 20 minute journey to Kyoto. The train attains a speed of up to 300 km per hour along the 515-km journey.

Mr. Prasad’s business for the day and Wednesday requires at least three trips in bullet trains. These included visits to Shin-Kobe and Shin-Osaka and back to Tokyo.

Leading a high-level delegation of his Ministry, Mr. Prasad is meeting a number of Japanese ministers and officials to expedite construction of the Rs.37,000-crore eastern and western corridors. Japan has agreed to provide Rs.17,000 crore as soft loan to finance a part of the western corridor project. India is also expected to purchase about 160 new class electric locomotives of 9000 HP to 12000 HP.

According to sources in the Railway Bhawan, Mr. Prasad was keen on procuring a part of the soft loan during the current fiscal itself as work on the project is to start soon.