Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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India needs Bullet Train

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The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project was the first casualty of the bitter regime change in Maharashtra, going by the Shiv Sena’s belligerent mood the venture may not come through. But if BJP stand united in Maharashtra, the dream of bullet train may come true. Bullet train is definitely a boost. Why then politicos are steadfast in stopping such an innovative project.

The bullet train project will teach Indians new technology. Sometimes collateral benefits far outweigh the benefits of the primary project. Unless we are willing to take a leap forward, we will remain in the shallow waters of primitive technology.
All over the world, 200 mph trains have taken the place of short haul flights. If you can shorten any city-city rail journey to 3 hours or under, that is faster, cheaper and more reliable than short haul air travel when you include travel time to each airport, security checks etc. In Europe, short haul airlines are going bust and so many people have switched to faster trains. Billions of rail journeys are now made across the world each year by 200 mph trains. For India it is new but in due course it will become the toast of train travellers in the country.

The line of argument used in “India does not need bullet train” is the same used questioning the nation on Nuclear Weapons, Space Programme etc. We see the bullet train as technology implementation. High speed transportation brings with it numerous technologies – from IT, logistics, propulsion, signaling, material science, design and manufacturing. India needs to be in forefront by converting technology into working design.

We all strongly believe that it will add value to the nation, development and its economy. Initially, there were criticism against computerisation, space technologies and other major developments. Criticism from the environmentalists need to be evaluated and try to consider their concerns and points during the implementation. Non financial benefits from such huge projects shall be higher than financial viability for short and long term prospective.

In the beginning, there were so many criticism against computerization, space technologies and other major developments. One of the main reasons was those who criticise were either directly or indirectly not part of the political parties or its ideologies of the ruling party. Governance needs a paradigm shift to take this country forward into 21st century and beyond.

India needs bullet trains and a full network of it. Current trains travelling long distance in India is extremely slow. Passengers will never get flight tickets during festival season. Also flights cannot carry such a large population as we are in India. Faster mode of mass transportation for long distance should be available by now and we are lagging way behind so far. Construction of bullet train network will also provide jobs.

Bullet train should be introduced if it is financially viable. All efforts should be made to improve the India Railways. There is dire need to improve technology and productivity. The matter of fact is in any government some sycophantic political leaders will be there to always oppose the good moves. To become a developed economy, parallel growth of several sectors is needed by implementing forward right policies. Just think in festive season, people are so eager to reach their home and they pay 1000 rupees extra for sleeper class ticket. Bullet trains will be a boost if we have a broader outlook. We need to shed our narrow outlook for the time being.


(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

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