Metro Rail News October 2017

A recent IIM Ahmedabad report claimed that
the bullet train will have to ferry around 1.18
lakh passengers per day or do 100 trips a day
between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to make it
financially viable. Your views?
Financial viability is something which different
people take in different prospects. We should be
able to run the system on our own without
seeking any grant from any source. Another
aspect of viability is from the economic
perspective. Infrastructure projects should not
be looked purely from the profitability point of
view. In any infrastructure project, it is very
difficult to earn profits in its initial phase.
Currently, it takes eight hours to reach Mumbai
from Ahmedabad. If people cover this distance
within two hours, they can utilise the remaining
six hours for some productive work.
People all over the world resisted the first-time
projects and as soon as they start using them, it
becomes a necessity.
The project will definitely generate operating
profit and would not need money to run the
system on yearly basis, but it will not be able to
support the depreciation. It will be able to
support the 0.1% interest on loan and the
operating cost.
What plans do you have for getting
uninterrupted electricity supply for the bullet
train?
Getting uninterrupted electricity supply for the
high-speed network is another challenge. A study
is being conducted by the NHSRCL to understand
the best way of tapping electricity. There are
five-six power distributers with whom the talks
are going on. We will have the figures of the
exact amount of electricity required for the highspeed
train in the next three months. Once the
statistics are with us, we will accordingly
approach the distribution companies. The
Shinkansen system requires the least power
consumption per seat compared with any other
high-speed trains globally.
There are reports that Maharashtra has some
reservations on the proposed high-speed station at
Bandra Kurla Complex.
It’s not a bone of contention between the
Maharashtra government and the NHSRCL. The BKC
in Mumbai has two sides: one is an exhibition ground
and the other is the G block. The Maharashtra
government has asked us to examine the G block first
and if it suits our requirement, the NHSRCL will build
the high-speed station there; otherwise the
exhibition ground area would be chosen.
Investigations are going on to find a suitable location
in BKC.
According to media reports, the Shinkansen
technology of the bullet train was a flop in Taiwan.
What makes you sure that it will be a hit in India?
The loan interest and depreciation cost were the
major reasons behind the poor show of the bullet
train in Taiwan. It is not that people are not accepting
the bullet train in Taiwan. I would not say the
Shinkansen system has failed in Taiwan. Ridership is
increasing gradually. The bullet train started in 2007-
08 in Taiwan and at that time the ridership was
around 40,000 and by 2014 it went up to 1.40 lakh
per day. The air traffic in the same sector is reducing
in Taiwan.
The project came up in Taiwan on public-private
partnership (PPP) basis, which is not the case with
India. Taiwan’s loan was a commercial loan and
India’s interest on the Japanese loan is very nominal.
Besides, India will have to pay interest 15 years after
receiving the loan, which gives us enough time. If
Taiwan takes out depreciation, even now its bullet
train will become profitable.
If the bullet train was not acceptable to Taiwanese
people, how come the traffic increased? Air traffic in
Taiwan in a certain section has almost come down to
half.
Many believe that the loan given by Japan to India
is not a soft loan. Please elaborate.
In all likelihood, if Japanese Yen becomes strong
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