Nagpur-Secunderabad High Speed Rail: Russian Railways To Submit Feasibility Report Soon, Seeks Project Partnership

Russian Railways RZD is currently undertaking the third and final stage of the feasibility study for the Nagpur-Secunderabad high speed rail project. The feasibility report will be finalised by September.

RZD has also expressed its interest in participating in the construction of this line

Rail Tech quoted Alexandr Misharin, First Deputy Managing Director of RZD as saying that “We expect that in the near future the Indian side will make a decision on the conditions for the further implementation of the project and the participation of the RZD Holding in it.”

Alexandr Misharin also hinted at the possibility of an intergovernmental agreement to provide joint support for the project. According to him, such an execution model has already been proposed to India by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

The feasibility study for the proposed 575-km Nagpur-Secunderabad high speed railway line that envisages to increase the speed of passenger trains to 200 kmph was commissioned in June 2017.

The proposed high speed line, that is divided into two sections, Nagpur-Ballarshah and the Ballarshah-Secunderabad, has 1,770 bridges and culverts including 18 major bridges with a length of more than 100 meters.

The rail distance between the two cities is 575 km. The Superfast Rajdhani Express currently takes 7 hours and 50 minutes to cover the distance with an average speed of about 80 kmph and top speed of 130 kmph. Other fast trains take over 10 hours to cover the distance. High speed rail is expected to cover the distance in less than 3 hours.