Project for the Delhi-Varanasi bullet train is impeded, and the Railway Board rejects the feasibility study.
The Railway Board rejected the project's feasibility report, citing several bends that would make it unsafe for a bullet train to travel at 350 kph along the proposed high-speed rail track between Delhi and Varanasi, according to sources.
According to the sources, the choice was made at a meeting that Railway Board Secretary R N Singh called last week to discuss the bullet train project. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited released the feasibility study findings (NHSRCL).
The National Highway-2 was suggested as the location for the corridor in the feasibility study. It was claimed that doing so would enable more affordable land purchases and lower building costs.
However, the technical problem that resulted in the proposal's outright rejection was that NH-2 featured several curving parts between Delhi and Varanasi, making it extremely risky for a train to operate at 350 km/h, according to a source present at the conference.
The source stated that a high-speed corridor's track "should be straight to operate a bullet train at a speed of 350 kmph."
The Railway Board is cautious, especially in light of the delays and obstacles in the ongoing bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, despite NHSRCL's eagerness to start work on the project.
The estimated cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project is expected to reach Rs 1.50 lakh crore as a result of the delays, according to sources. According to officials, the high-speed corridor is being built for about Rs 200 crore per kilometre.
The Railway Board has recommended that for the time being the main focus be on operating only Vade Bharat semi-high speed trains at a speed of 160-200 kmph. According to officials, 400 of these trains will be accessible over the following three years and may be employed on various routes.