(a) whether the Union Government is in the process to build six high-speed and semi-high speed corridors in various railway zones across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Union Government has any proposal to include Chennai-New Delhi and Chennai-Coimbatore railway line in the proposed six high-speed and semi-high speed corridors;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) and (b): No, Sir. So far, Government has sanctioned only one such project namely Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project (508 Kms), which is being executed with the technical and financial cooperation of Government of Japan. However, Ministry of Railways has decided to undertake and prepare Detailed Project Report (DPR) for following six High Speed Rail Corridors with an objective to ascertain their feasibility, alternative alignments, traffic demand, viability, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) etc.:
(i) Delhi – Noida – Agra – Lucknow- Varanasi (815 kms)
(ii) Delhi – Jaipur – Udaipur – Ahmedabad (886 kms)
(iii) Mumbai – Nasik – Nagpur (753 kms)
(iv) Mumbai – Pune – Hyderabad (711 kms)
(v) Chennai – Bangalore – Mysore (435 kms)
(vi) Delhi – Chandigarh – Ludhiana – Jalandhar – Amritsar (459 kms)
The work of undertaking DPR has been entrusted to National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL).
(c): No, Sir.
(d): Does not arise.
(e): Identification of new Corridors depends on many factors especially passenger demand, market potential, alternative options and economic viability.
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