Indian High Speed Rail

Indian Railways is making progress in their effort to implement a high-speed rail network. Just in the past week India has introduced their fastest train, completed a report for a new high-speed rail line and granted approval for a Talgo train test run.

The Indian government has proposed developing high-speed rail through a “Golden Quadrilateral” network that will be developed in phases. The project would eventually connect the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai through six different high-speed lines.

The first phase is a high-speed line from Mumbai – Ahmedabad, which is being financed by the Japanese government. Indian Railways has selected partners from China, France and Spain to carry out feasibility studies for later phases of the project.

Approval has been granted to the Spanish firm Talgo to conduct trial runs on the Delhi-Mumbai route. If all goes well Indian Railways will consider introducing these trains on other routes as well. This is an immediate step they can take to cut travel times, improve service and modernize their network.

If that wasn’t enough good news, a draft final report for the Delhi-Amristar line was completed last week and estimates construction costs at $20.8 billion over 8 years. The recommendedoperating speed is 300km/h, providing a two hour journey between the two cities with six intermediate stations.

With all of the progress being made on passenger rail in India we were fortunate to have an engaging speaker, Luv Sehgal, a graduate research assistant with RailTEC at UIUC, cover the topic at our Annual Spring Meeting.

Best,

Dylan Hayward
Program Manager

Last Week at MHSRA:

Thank you to everyone who showed up to our 2016 Spring Annual Meeting this past Saturday. We had a great turnout and learned a lot from our speakers about passenger rail projects in the Midwest and throughout the world.

Last week I also had the opportunity to see the progress being made at Chicago’s Union Station. Take the time to check out the master plan here.

Articles We Enjoyed:

Study to Consider Adding More Round-Trips on Amtrak Hiawatha Line
“The state this summer could hold hearings on the proposal to add three more round-trips a day to the Hiawatha passenger rail line between Milwaukee and Chicago”

Officials Optimistic About Expanding Amtrak Service in Illinois
“Proponents of expanded Amtrak service in Illinois are meeting today in Chicago and despite the state’s budget woes, they’re talking expansion.”

Amtrak Unveils $50 Million Solution to Cramped Conditions at DC Union Station
“Amtrak plans to begin building a new $50 million Union Station concourse this summer that it said would double the space for passengers and improve circulation throughout the station by 2019.”

Siemens Shows First Complete Charger Locomotive
“Siemens displayed its first completed Charger diesel-electric locomotive…The states of Illinois, California, Michigan, Missouri, Washington and Maryland have ordered a total of 66 Charger locomotives”

Lufthansa Express Rail Opens New Service to Dortmund
“Germany: Lufthansa Express Rail started offering Dortmund as a new destination for Lufthansa passengers.”

How Texas’ High-Speed Rail Project Landed ULI’s Next Big Idea Award
Interest is growing in Texas’ high speed rail project!

Upcoming Events:

Japan High-Speed Rail Tour

We are planning the tour for October of 2016. This trip will give everyone an opportunity to enjoy the rich history of train travel the country offers. We have created an itinerary that includes riding the world’s first high-speed rail
line, exploring the world’s largest railroad station headhouse, experiencing how Japan deals with blended service and much more. Throughout the trip, there will be talks to explain what we are seeing and relate them to potential high speed rail development in the United States.

Please click here if you would like to learn more about the trip

Dylan Hayward
Program Manager
Midwest High Speed Rail Association
4765 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
773-334-6758

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