The Chennai-Mysuru high speed rail corridor is India's third

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

project after the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor and Delhi Varanasi High Speed Rail Corridor. The 435 km HSR corridor will connect Chennai to Mysuru through 9 stations.

History

In 2013,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, Siddaramaiah served as Chief Minister of Karnataka from 13 May 2013 to 17 May 2018 and currently serving as the leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembl ...

, suggested that the state wanted to run bullet trains from

Mysuru Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

via

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, and was conducting talks with his counterparts in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

about the topic. He commented that the journey could be done in less than two hours, though no studies had yet been conducted prior to those words. A feasibility study by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on the project was submitted to the Federal Government in June 2015. While Germany also proposed to conduct its own feasibility study at the same time. The then Railways Minister, Suresh Prabhu, suggested that the route would be one of the next high-speed railways to be implemented in India. Japan Railway Technical Service (JARTS) and Oriental Consultants submitted a feasibility study in early 2016 about constructing the high-speed railway line through a PPP with the government. French state-owned company SNCF also expressed an interest in building a high-speed railway line too. In early 2017, Indian Railways (IR) responded to a proposal by Elon Musk for a Hyperloop to connect the two cities in thirty minutes, saying that it would be unlikely due to government bureaucracy. During the June 2017 opening of Bengaluru's Green Line Metro, Japan’s Ambassador to India, Kenji Hiramatsu, suggested that the railway line should be built with support from Japanese development funds.

Description

The high-speed railway line would mainly be built alongside the existing railway between the two cities. However, a viaduct between Bangarapet and Vaniyambadi, as well as a viaduct between Katpadi and Arakkonam, would need to be constructed due to hilly terrain. There would be two new railway stations built underground in Chennai and one at Bengaluru, would witness the high-speed trains, running at around

Stations

The Chennai Mysuru high speed rail corridor is planned to have a total of nine stations.

Project status

2018

*November: German government submitted a feasibility study to the Railway Board

2020

*June: Indian Railways sanctioned the feasibility studies for the corridor

2021

*February: Aarvee-GSL awarded the contract for Chennai-Mysuru HSR's LiDAR & Alignment Design contract.

2022

*July: Infrastructure Minister of Karnataka, V. Somanna reveled that the centre had asked NHSRCL to submit the DPR to implement the project. The state government held a high level meeting and discussed about alignment going through the upcoming 10-lane Bengaluru-Mysuru highway. While the state government is set to provide the land, the centre will bear the entire project's cost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delhi - Varanasi high-speed passenger corridor C Standard gauge railways in India Rail transport in Delhi Rail transport in Uttar Pradesh Proposed railway lines in India Modi administration initiatives Transport in Mysore Transport in Chennai India–Japan relations 2030 in rail transport