Patna - Kolkata in 2 hours by Train ???

KOLKATA: Travel by train from Howrah to Patna in an hour and a half or to Haldia in 45 minutes. Sounds crazy? But the Indian Railways is seriously considering a proposal to set up high-speed corridors from Howrah to Patna and Haldia. If the plans are finalised and a private party comes forward to foot the bill, trains will run at up to 350 km/hour along these corridors. Other routes, where similar proposals have been made, are Delhi-Amritsar via Ludhiana, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Chennai-Bangalore. While the corridor between Delhi and Amritsar may take Rs 60,000 crore to build, the one between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is expected to cost Rs 75,000 crore. The corridors from Howrah are expected to cost as much. The costs will be high as everything - from sleepers, tracks, signals and rolling stock - will have to undergo modification. "The entire stretch will have to be fenced off and there can't be any crossings. A collision - even with a man or a cow, at such a high speed - will be catastrophic for the train. Our tracks cannot withstand such high speed and will have to be replaced. New locomotives and rakes will have to be brought in. Power consumption will also go up," a senior railway officer said. But there are officials, who are not sure whether the returns will justify such huge investments. Passenger fares will be considerably high and investors would want to put property in and around the stations into commercial use. Private operators, however, think that the railways may also woo back air passengers with such high-speed corridors. Most airports are situated far from the city. In addition to this, passengers have to spend time at the airport, both before boarding and after reaching the destination. Many air passengers would not mind an additional hour of travel by train if they can reach the city centre directly and do away with the hassles of security checks. Railway officials agree that high-speed corridors between city centres to tourist destinations like Puri and New Jalpaiguri may become popular. "There may be evening services between Howrah and Puri. Tourists can reach Puri by 8 pm and check into their hotels. There can also be an early morning service from Sealdah to New Jalpaiguri and tourists will get the full day ahead of them. However, there will have to be a steady patronage for such services to be successful," an official said.