France, Spain, China to study high speed rail corridors

NEW DELHI: Moving ahead with the Diamond Quadrilateral project, railways have selected companies from China, France and Spain to carry out feasibility study of three routes connecting Delhi with Mumbai and Kolkata and also between Mumbai and Chennai.

The Rs 2 lakh crore Diamond Quadrilateral project aims to drastically reduce the travelling time between the metros with the introduction of the high-speed trains, which will run at speeds of about 300-kmph.

While a company from China will study Delhi-Mumbai route, another company from France has been given Mumbai-Chennai corridor. A Spanish company will conduct the route between Delhi and Kolkata, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

High Speed Rail Corporation has awarded the contract to the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute (China), Systra (France) and Ineco (Spain) to carry out feasibility study of three high speed corridors.

The feasibility study for the three routes is estimated to cost about Rs 30 crore.

Currently, the superfast Rajdhani Express covers the distance between Delhi and Mumbai in about 16 hours. With the introduction of the high-speed train, the travel time is expected to be reduced by almost half.

Similarly, the travel time between Delhi and the other metros will be reduced with the introduction of bullet trains.

At present, a Chinese company is already involved in undertaking feasibility study of the Delhi-Chennai route, also a part of the Diamond Quadrilateral project.