New Delhi, Nov 22 (UNI) High Speed Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai Railway corridor if implemented can generate 1 lakh job opportunity in its peak time of construction, said German Ambassador Martin Ney here on Thursday.
Handing over the 'Feasibility study on High Speed Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai corridor' which was commissioned and financed by Germany to Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani, Mr Ney said the report was concluded in 18 months.
Highlighting the findings of the study, Mr Ney said, 'High speed railways is not only feasible but the most efficient solution to manage traffic and to improve connectivity.'
'The corridor between Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai is faster than flight connection as you don't have
to check in to the airport. High speed eases pressure from crowded streets," he said.
He essentially summarised the study in four points and said as per the study, the project could envisage an estimated expenditure of 16 Billion US Dollar.
"Every high speed railway has one hurdle to overcome that is finding land for the tracks. India has a lot of land but there is land acquisition problem. Germany has scarce land. So I believe we can share our experience how to minimise new land use," he said at a press conference also addressed by Chairman Railway Board Mr Lohani.
The German envoy said the best use of existing lines should be made and the tracks should be used not only for high speed travel but for other trains including freight passing by the same route as well.
He suggested that the high speed corridor can in fact be integrated into the existing Broad Gauge system.
"We propose to have high speed lines in Indian Broad Gauge and integrated into the existing system," he said adding the key word will be inter-operability. "The study proposes to multiply benefits by choosing a line type
that enables high speed travel but also allows for cross usage by other trains," he said.
The German Ambassador also observed that from 2021-2035, if the corridor gets implemented, will create at least 30,000 jobs directly related to its construction work, while in the peak period of construction between 2024-2026, 1 lakh jobs will be created.
'If implemented, travel time between Chennai-Bangalore will be drastically reduced to 100 minutes and between Bangalore to Mysore the time will be reduced to 40 minutes, which will be a substantial time gain,' Mr Ney added.
Chairman Railway Board Ashwani Lohani said, 'It is a great occasion to get the study report. High speed is the flavour in many countries. It does better than air travel. it will be much faster than city center to city center.
The study has been fully financed by the German side. There are issues related to high speed. But this a one major step forward.'
UNI AE DEVN 1835