Source: The Hindu

By S. Vydhianathan

CHENNAI: The Railways is looking for public-private partnership to in introduce ing high-speed trains in select corridors.

As such high-speed trains can be operated only on dedicated elevated corridors, costing at least Rs. 70 crore a per kmilometre, private participation has become imperative, according to Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese. There are demands for bullet trains from Chennai to Ernakulam, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Madurai and from Trivandrum to Mangalore.

The Railway Board Chairman recently held detailed discussions with Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Kerala on this issue. As heavy investments are needed to realise these demands, an in-depth market survey on possible clientele who could afford to pay fares on a par with those of airlines would have to be carried out.

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Posted by pichu at July 17, 2007 10:29 PM