A technology explosion in urban transportation, urban decongestion and the likely transformation thereafter are the benefits being touted in support of the bullet train which, prima facie, are very attractive.
But when we eulogise the massive investment, the state of ageing railway infrastructure, the safety of the existing rail network and the long pending demands of various States should not be ignored. The enormous cost of the project involves the internal generation of resources. With resource mobilisation in a struggling economy being difficult, fund diversion from ongoing development projects and downsizing of regular expenditures are the obvious alternative. Another likely fallout would be continued cold treatment of projects pending for years at the threshold for approval and allocation of funds. There are indications in the Budget (2017-18) about such a possibility. Allocations to metropolitan transport projects, new lines (construction), gauge conversions and rolling stock have dipped. One hopes that the Japanese bounty of liberal finance doesn’t become an irremovable drag on the economy.
Haridasan Rajan,
Kozhikode
In the articles under “Left, Right, Centre”, “Does India need a bullet train?” (October 6), the writer (‘Left’) had said: “Estimates in the project report by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad show that at least 1 lakh passengers at fares of ₹4,000-₹5,000 would be required daily for the project to break even. The tariff is too high — air fares between the two cities are around ₹2,500. Subsidies appear inevitable. Subsidies for agriculture, education and healthcare are taboo, but subsidies for the rich seem unproblematic.”
The IIMA report assumed that the average distance a passenger would be travelling by bullet train would be 300 km, and at ₹5 per km, the fare would be ₹1,500. For the project to break even, the project would require 1 lakh passengers, who on average travel 300 km in the HSR corridor.
Ramakrishnan T.S.,
Ahmedabad
