India’s high-speed rail authority has received Rs 100 crore (€12.3 million) to ‘take further steps’ towards building a new high-speed network Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
High Speed Rail Corporation (HSRC), which was established in October 2013, will carry out feasibility studies into the so-called ‘diamond quadrilateral’ high-speed network.
Pre-feasibility studies has already looked into seven possible high-speed routes and a preliminary study has estimated that the cost of a corridor between Mumbai-Ahemdabad could run as high as Rs 650 billion (€7.7 billion).
Although India is keen on developing the infrastructure for 350 km/h passenger services, the focus is on improving the existing network to allow higher line speeds of between 160 and 200 km/h. Routes include: Delhi-Kanpur, Chennai-Hyderabad and Nagpur-Bilaspur.
