10,000 km long hi-speed railway network to connect metros by 75th Independence Day

Tuesday December 05, 2017 , 2 min Read

To coincide with 75 years of India’s Independence, high-speed trains that reduce travel time between major metros will be launched by August 2022.

High-speed network of trains running at 160 kmph will be interconnecting four major metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata — and the project has been named the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’.

The speed will be almost twice the average speed of trains on this network which stands at 89-90 kmph at present. Indian Railways has started drawing a blueprint to interconnect the four metros and the project has been appraised by Niti Ayog. According to PTI, a railway official said,

We are still finalising the blueprint and efforts are on to officially launch the project by August 2022 to coincide with the celebrations around India’s 75th year of Independence. However, everything depends on how we manage to meet every deadline set for the project.

As the project awaits sanction from cabinet, E Sreedharan, special advisor to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, has suggested that the pace of laying metro lines be increased.

At present, the pace of annual laying of metro lines is about 25 km a year. To meet the growing demands of fast and safe commute in urban areas, Sreedharan has suggested that the pace be increased to 200 km a year — eight times the current pace. This can be possible with quick approval and speedy implementation.

For the high-speed network of trains to become a reality in the next five years, extra budgetary allocation of around Rs 36,000 crore will be required.