13 February,2009 10:51 AM IST | | Kaumudi Gurjar
Railway Pravasi Group in Pune is hopeful that the Railway Ministry will release more funds this year to speed up the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project
The the Railway Pravasi Group from the city are looking forward to the interim Railway Budget , which will be presented in the parliament today by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Puneities are hopeful that more funds will be released this year to speed up the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, which promises to cover the distance of 638 km in mere 150 minutes.
Harsha Shah, leader of the Railway Pravasi Group, said, "The tender for the bullet train project has been awarded to a Japanese Company and the survey for the same is over now."
She added that the company is carrying out a study plan to shorten the distance by routing the track through Wadala, Thane or Bhayander.
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It may be recalled that the bullet train project was first announced in the 2005 Railway Budget. Also, five routes were announced then out of which, the Kolkata- Haldia Fort route (covering 120 Km) was cancelled.
According to Shah, the government should adopt more futuristic technology that is available in the proposed cost. "The infrastructure and technology for the cyber rails, which are plying in US and Japan cost approximately the same as the proposed bullet trains," she said.
Besides, she's hopeful that more funds would be released for the project. "Fifteen years ago, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project got derailed.
But this time, the Central Railway Ministry and the government of Maharashtra and Gujarat along with private stakeholders will bear the expenses. Hence, the chance of the project getting jinxed is quite less," Shah opined.
Bullet speed
At present, it takes an overnight journey to cover the distance of 635 km between Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad.
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However, if the bullet train project that is estimated to around Rs 70 crore/km works out, the distance will be covered in just 150 mins.
Moreover, the bullet train is expected to run at a lighting speed of 300 to 350 km/hr on a dedicated fast track.
