Indian bullet train delayed

[Adlington]

Does any new rail project anywhere proceed as planned?

India has undertaken an ambitious project for a bullet train to run between two of the country's major cities. A deal was signed in 2015 with Japan, which is helping to finance its construction.

Claim: India will have a bullet train service running by August 2022. This will run down the west coast, connecting the cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Verdict: Passengers may get to experience a modern high-speed train on just a small section of line by 2022. It looks unlikely the promised bullet train will be fully operational by then or even by the following year.

The main obstacle is land acquisition. The train project needs to acquire more than 1,400 hectares (14 sq km) of land, most of it privately owned.

The National High Speed Rail Corporation had been aiming to complete this process by the end of last year but has recently said it will continue until mid-2019. In February, it told BBC News there were now agreements with more than 1,000 landowners - out of an estimated total of 6,000.
One barrier to the land sales has been dissatisfaction with the amount of compensation being offered to the owners.

There have been protests in some areas over plans for land acquisition - and multiple petitions filed in the courts. And in India, court cases challenging land acquisition can drag on for years. But those running the project say they are paying compensation of 25% above the legal requirement.

Another potential barrier is the need for wildlife and other environmental clearances, as the train will pass through three wildlife areas and coastal regions. It will also cross areas classified as forest - and this land can be acquired only once environmental impact studies have been completed and reforestation plans drawn up.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46639061

 

[duesselmartin]

Certainly not for decades, except in Switzerland

 

[175mph]

It's good to know these issues aren't unique to the UK.

 

[dutchflyer]

QUOTE="Adlingtonoes any new rail project anywhere proceed as planned?

Well-and China (mainland, the former communist people's republic) has built near to 10.000 KMs of brand new HS-lines (plus also a few 1000 KMs of conventional lines and metro's/underground-often above the ground, in some 30+ cities) and most of that (though admittedly hard to really check) was on time etc. As if by magic, Metro-lines there, both all new or as extensions, nearly always open in the very last week of the year. The mag MT (former Modern tramway, now some new name) reported 372 Kms of newly opened citylines in late 2018. China also seems able to open lines built by them (both in money and workers) in African countries reasonably in time.
Bangkok/Thailand is to open some extensions of its MRT this year-well ahead of planned dates, but in the first stage only as provisional/experimental (and often free), though it also has its share of far too late other lines and the planning of its HS-lines (again-China as main contractor and also goal to where) it just a plain shambles (or some may say: the ASEAN way of bargaining untill they are satisfied, and they know the Chinese sense of doing business quite well there).
SINgapore also seems quite able to build and open its MRT network on and in time.

 

[RichJF]

Dealing in Indian defence procurement where it took them over 30 years to buy a small number of American guns & almost 40 years to put out an arguably obsolete aircraft, I don't forsee this for at least 35 years.

 

[atraindriver]

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[Requeststop]

Dealing in Indian defence procurement where it took them over 30 years to buy a small number of American guns & almost 40 years to put out an arguably obsolete aircraft, I don't forsee this for at least 35 years.

There must have been a lot of shaking of heads over the delay.

 

[duesselmartin]

Former?
When did the PRC cease being run by the communist party?


Just don't mention the HS train they chose to bury rather than admit there had been a serious collision...

Former in all but name There is, in my opinion, hardly a more capitalist country than the PRC.
But that is off topic.