The Indian government has approved record funding with the promise of more to come to modernise Indian Railways and provide desperately-needed extra capacity. However, as Raghav Thakur reports, IR has a poor record for implementing projects and past attempts to reform the railway have come to nothing.
CHINA Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group (CRSSD) is conducting a preliminary study of a planned 1754km high-speed line in India linking Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Chennai which it hopes to complete by August.
INDIAN Railways (IR) has confirmed that it will select one of two Japanese suppliers within the next few months for a contract to supply 200 electric freight locomotives for use on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) from Delhi to Mumbai.
INDIA's railways minister Mr Suresh Prabu unveiled the government's 2015-2016 railway budget on February 26, promising record spending of Rs 1 trillion ($US 18.9bn) in Indian Railways (IR) over the next financial year.
INDIA's ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has selected about 20 railway projects worth Rs 900bn ($US 14.5bn) for domestic or foreign direct private investment, allowing Indian Railways to float global bids shortly.
CHINA Railway Corporation (CRC) will begin a feasibility study early next year of what is billed as the world's longest high speed railway – a 2174km line connecting the Indian capital, New Delhi, with the southern port city of Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 2 trillion ($US 32.3bn).
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on September 18 by the chairman Indian Railways (IR) Mr Arunendra Kumar and the head of China Railway Corporation (CRC) Mr Lu Dongfu for a joint pre-feasibility study into constructing a high-speed line.
INDIA's Rs 700bn ($US 11.6bn) rail market is now open to global manufacturers and investors, following cabinet approval for so-called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
OUTLINING structural reforms for India's rail network by splitting the policy making and operational functions, India's BJP-led NDA government has backed the previous UPA government's initiatives to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the rail sector to fund major projects including high-speed schemes.
INDIA's new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has outlined ambitious plans to build a series of high-speed rail corridors connecting major metropolitan centres during the next 10 years - the so-called "Diamond Quadrilateral" programme.