High-speed Rail: Driving economic growth and sustainability in India

Imagine traversing the 508 km distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in all of two hours, a distance that takes about nine hours in a public bus or six hours in a conventional train. High-speed trains have come to symbolise the future of travel the world over, specially to cover inter-city distances between 400-800 km and India is not going to be far behind as we expect our first high-speed rail corridor to be operational by 2026.

As India positions itself to join the coveted list of global superpowers, a transformation of the railway system, which carries over 8 billion passengers annually, is an integral part of this journey. Towards this end, 11 high speed rail corridors have been planned under the National Rail Plan. And with a planned investment of ₹17.4 lakh crore by 2025, Indian Railways is firmly on track to becoming a game changer in global rail infrastructure.

But, building a high-speed rail system in India brings some unique challenges, which include financing, looking at problems of diverse geographies and integrating the upcoming lines with existing rail and metro systems for multi-modal transfer. The latest episode of Mint Rail Vision by Alstom, titled ‘High-speed Rail – Driving Economic Growth and Sustainability’, powered by Alstom, saw a cross-section of experts from this domain explore how high-speed rail systems can transform intercity travel and economic growth and the challenges in this journey.

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High-speed rail powering growth

The introduction of a high-speed rail system will fuel our country’s economic engine by boosting productivity, help meet environmental and energy challenges and also place us on the fast track to development by connecting economic hubs. It can also help us address critical challenges like urban congestion, regional economic disparities and climate goals.

There are examples in the world where high-speed trains have replaced air travel, which leaves a much larger carbon footprint. If we compare ourselves with China where 10 billion people travel every year as against about 8 billion in India, they have the largest high-speed rail network in the world today, across 45,000 kilometres,” said Sudhanshu Mani, a railway expert who was part of the team behind India’s first semi high-speed train, the Vande Bharat Express.

He added that high-speed rail systems can help bring down the travel time between cities thereby boosting economic growth and elevating the standard of living for many residing in smaller towns/ cities. It is an essential part of India’s transport strategy for the future, especially when it comes to connecting key economic hubs and for transport in the future. Rail as a mode of transport is much cleaner than road and air and, therefore, it is a necessity for the future.

A high-speed rail system will also boost the local economy as it brings cities closer, creates jobs and manufacturing, and offers an avenue for infrastructure development.

“Developing infrastructure is a key driver for any country’s economy. And logistics arrangements are the key for any business development or economic growth. The infrastructure sector contributes to about 3.2 per cent of our GDP in India. So, definitely it is going to make an impact,” said Anil Kumar Khandelwal,former Member – Infrastructure, Railway Board, with over 35 years of experience in railway construction and infrastructure development.

Challenges and solutions

Talking about challenges, Mani said: “I would say land acquisition is the biggest challenge. Financing, today, I don’t think is a big challenge because of this government’s thrust in allotting huge capex to Indian railway – it is ₹2.65 lakh crore.”

A development of such magnitude needs to be carried out with a strong partnership between the government and private players. One such name is Alstom, which helped India bring in the celebrated Namo Bharat in 2023. Even in high-speed rail development, private players like Alstom can help accelerate the country’s plans to develop, implement and operate high speed rail networks.

Alstom has more than 40 years of experience in the development of high-speed rail networks across countries like France, Italy, Spain, China, Morocco, etc.

“The signalling system that we have provided in order to support the Namo Bharat project, which is a train at 160 kilometres per hour, was clearly one of the highest standards in the market today. We are talking about ETCS level 2, hybrid level 3, LTE connection with a platform screen door,” said Olivier Loison, Managing Director of Alstom India.

The sheer magnitude of development has gone up manifold. Earlier, Indian Railways was adding about 4 kilometre of track each day, or 2,000 kilometres every year. Now, we are adding more than 14 kilometre per day and more than 5,000 kilometre of track every year.

Talking about the future of high-speed rail in our country, Khandelwal said: “We are coming up with indigenous rolling stock for a speed up to 280 kmph to start with the high-speed rail in our country. And very soon you will be travelling from Ahmedabad to Bombay by high-speed in our country.”

The discussion moved to bringing in private investments in the sector, by calling upon experts who have the technology and know-how to run these systems. “Railway projects are capital intensive and the gestation period is very high. The private sector doesn’t want to invest the money. The reason is that the cost of finances becomes very high owing to social issues, land acquisition, environment, long gestation periods,” he added. And, finally, when the systems run, the fares are highly subsidised.

Due to all of these reasons, passenger projects, the world over, rarely run on Public Private Partnership (PPP) models and the railways are now looking at other innovative models to bring in investments. “I came to know that Indian Railways are planning to make one new policy. It will be in the form of HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) where we have to pay but along with some interest in the future as annuity,” Khandelwal said. 

A vision for the future

Given India’s unique challenges, companies like Alstom can leverage their global expertise to ensure better implementation of high-speed projects. “We have 2,900 plus orders. This worldwide experience, I think, is an asset in order to understand globally how the overall network constraints can be integrated. Alstom in India has 12,500 talents. Five engineering centres, six factories and clearly some solution which has demonstrated our integration between a global leadership but also a local understanding which will be I think a key way to leverage on this high-speed market,” Olivier Loison said.

He feels that using a proven solution will help with ease of implementation of high-speed rail for a country like India, which can learn from the experience of other countries, where such systems are already running. “I think global vision is the first point. Any success starts by a vision and the vision is there. The means are there as well in order to sustain the vision. Today, many countries are using high speed trains,” said Olivier Loison.

Olivier Loison also spoke about how the development of a high-speed rail network will help India in its roadmap towards net zero by 2070. “Rail, by nature, is a green technology because it runs on electricity. It is also a means of mass transportation, with a level of comfort, safety, passenger experience,” he added.

Note to the Reader: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.