In an important bilateral cooperation in railway sector, a protocol for feasibility study for speed raising of Nagpur-Secunderabad railway corridor was signed between Indian Railways and Russian Railways during the bilateral meeting of Prime Minister Narender Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Goa on Saturday. The agreement is for technical and execution study for upgradation of the speed of passenger trains in Nagpur- Secunderabad section upto 200 kmph.
A senior railway official said that this project will be jointly financed by Indian Railways and Russian Railways with 50 per cent cost share of each party. The Protocol was signed by Naveen Kumar Shukla, Adviser/Mobility/Railway Board from Indian side and OV Belozerov, President, Russian Railways from Russian side.
Both the countries had formally signed and MoU in 2015 on Technical Cooperation in Railway Sector.
The agreement is based on identified cooperation which includes, High Speed Rail (HSR) in India, modernization of existing lines of the Indian railways in order to raise train speeds up to 160-200 kmph, modern control & safety related systems based on satellite navigation and digital communication means and station development and the ambitious dedicated freight rail corridors’ modernisation, reconstruction and construction of track superstructure including civil engineering works.
Introduction of modern technologies like satellite and geo-information systems, transportation safety and cyber security, rolling stock, heavy haul transportation, organization of Human Resources training for the Indian railways and secondary and higher vocational education of students and advanced training of staff members including managers are also some of the areas where Russia is likely to assist India. Besides bridges and tunnels and slab tracks are other parts of engagement likely to happen between the two countries.
This is the sixth country after China, Japan, Germany, Spain and Czech with which the Ministry of Railways have entered into either technical cooperation or engagements to augment Indian railways infrastructure and bringing it at par with the world standards. “While several countries have also volunteered to share their expertise , Indian railways too have been invited by some of the countries to develop and enhance their capacity on railway network. Our rolling stock materials are already being exported to South Asian countries and in the Indian sub-continent,” added the official.