CHENNAI: Six global companies are in the running to provide the Railway Ministry with high-speed trains that can run at more than 600 km per hour and talks with them are in an advanced stage, according to Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Speaking in Chennai after inaugurating a series of initiatives, Prabhu said that six global companies have been called up by the Ministry to satisfy the Railway Ministry’s needs.
“We called for six top global companies who have the technology that can travel beyond the 350 km per hour mark.
These trains can travel up to 600 km per hour,” he said, adding that these firms have come forward and talks are in the advanced stages of finalisation.
While the railway minister did not give an exact time-frame for the launch of such trains in the country, Prabhu said that it might happen in “ten years” and that these were the areas they were working on.
On the launch of other such high-speed trains in India, he pointed out that Japanese companies are investing nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in Indian high-speed rail technology.
The minister also pointed out that the ministry would invest an additional Rs 85,000 crore for a dedicated freight corridor project that will be completed by the year 2019.
“In the last two years, contracts has been issued, tenders have been finalised,” he pointed out. Dedicated freight corridors help in streamlining the transport of goods across the nation.