India and Japan have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for feasibility study of high speed railway system.

New Delhi, Oct 9/Nationalturk – In a major step towards introducing bullet trains in India, India and Japan have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for feasibility study of high speed railway system.

“India and Japan have signed MoU to undertake a joint feasibility study of high speed railway system on rain link connecting India city of Mumbai with Ahmedabad in Gujarat State,” a senior Indian railway ministry official said.

He said the MoU was signed by Katsuo Matsumoto, Director South Asia Division JICA from the Japanese side and Girish Pillai, Adviser Infrastructure, Ministry of Railways from the Indian side on October 7.

Trains with speed of 300-350 kmph will be introduced in India

The official said objective of the joint study is to prepare a feasibility report of high speed railway system on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route with speed of 300-350 kmph.

“The cost of the study will be shared 50:50 between India and Japan,” he said adding the study shall be completedwithin18 months from its commencement.

The study, according to Railway official, will do traffic forecasting, alignment surveys and undertake comparative study of high speed railway technology and system.

‘Indo-Japan joint committee to monitor study’

The official said joint monitoring committee between Japan and India shall also be established. “The committee will comprise Ministry of Railways, Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of External Affairs from the Indian side and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industries, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Finance, Embassy of Japan in India and JICA from the Japanese side.

Official sources said besides Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, Indian Railways has identified six more routes for conducting pre-feasibility study for high speed corridors and these include Delhi-Agra-Patna, Howrah-Haldia, Chennai- Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi-Amritsar.

Earlier, on May 29, 2013 Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had agreed to co-finance a joint feasibility study of Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed route.

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Faiz Ahmad / NationalTurk India News

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