New High-Speed Rail Proposal To Cut Travel Time From Hyderabad To Bengaluru And Chennai To 2 Hours

A train ride from Hyderabad to Bengaluru and Chennai could soon become as quick as air travel if a new proposal gets going. The central government has proposed two high-speed rail corridors linking Hyderabad to the two cities that will reduce train travel time by almost 10 hours to both destinations.

The high-speed trains, operating at 320 kilometres per hour, are expected to ferry passengers to Bengaluru in two hours and Chennai in two hours and 20 minutes. Currently, flights from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to Kempegowda International Airport take one hour and 15 minutes, while those to Chennai International Airport take one hour and 20 minutes. Adding the time to reach the city centre from the airport extends the total journey to 2-3 hours, a time matched by the high-speed trains.

While the high-speed rail corridor on the Hyderabad-Chennai route is proposed for 705 kilometres, the Hyderabad-Bengaluru stretch will cover 626 kilometres.

RITES Limited, a public sector undertaking and engineering consultancy corporation, has invited tenders to carry out a final location survey involving a detailed project report (DPR), alignment design, traffic, estimate and preparation of engineering documents for the two high-speed elevated corridors.

The project's survey and assessment will require INR 33 crore, said a senior South Central Railway (SCR) official. The forthcoming rail routes will exclusively serve high-speed trains, differing from conventional rail tracks that accommodate various trains, right from freight to Vande Bharat. The design follows the model of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, which is being developed for bullet train operations.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor feasibility assessment began in 2015, followed by construction in 2021. The corridor, with a projected cost of INR 1.65 lakh crore, is estimated to reach completion by 2028. In the case of the Hyderabad corridor, though the completion of the project remains ambiguous, the railway ministry estimates at least 15 years for its completion.

As per the tender notice, the assigned firm will have to take up remote sensing studies, geological mapping, drilling of major bridges and viaducts, and lab testing on soil and rock samples along both rail corridors.

While being designed to accommodate speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour, the two corridors will operate at 320 kilometres per hour. An elevated corridor is also being planned by keeping provisions for future multi-tracking in the existing broad gauge railway corridors. The study will broadly cover traffic studies; civil engineering studies including bridging, tunnelling, building and other structures; a detailed estimate and project appraisal to arrive at the financial internal rate of return, according to the tender notice.

(With inputs from a news report)