Raghav Thakur

GERMAN Rail (DB) has agreed to provide technical support to Indian Railways (IR) for a feasibility study into raising the maximum line speed on the 634km Chennai - Kazipet line to 200km/h.

JUST two years after the start of construction, testing was officially launched on the first metro line in the Indian city of Nagpur on September 30, when the first trial run was flagged off by surface transport and shipping minister Mr Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra chief minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis.

INDIAN prime minister Mr Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe officially launched civil works on India’s first high-speed line on September 14, when the two leaders laid a foundation stone in Ahmedabad for the 508km line to Mumbai.

THE chief minister of the Indian state of Telengana Mr K. Chandrashekhar Rao has invited India’s prime minister Mr Narendra Modi to inaugurate the first phase of the Hyderabad metro network, with the official opening ceremony expected to take place on November 28.

THE Indian government confirmed on September 5 that Mr Piyush Goyal will replace Mr Suresh Prabhu as the country’s railways minister.

ACCORDING to a new metro policy endorsed by India’s union cabinet on August 16, the government will only approve or fund metro projects after state governments have firmed up public-private partnership (PPP) agreements and last mile connectivity plans have been finalised.

INDIA’s cabinet gave the go-ahead on August 3 for three track-doubling and electrification projects in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which have a total value of Rs 36.2bn ($US 569m).

INDIAN Railways (IR) has shortlisted three bidders for a public-private partnership contract to build a factory to produce 5000 EMU cars over a period of 12 years. The selected supplier will also maintain the trains for 13 years.

INDIAN Railways (IR) says it is planning to adopt a sustainable procurement policy in a bid to reduce lifecycle costs and reduce its impact on the environment.