The parliamentary standing committee on railways has recommended that the Railways undertake a comprehensive study of successful high-speed rail networks in countries where such systems operate efficiently.
The committee, in its 10th report tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday, also recommended accelerated indigenisation of high-speed rail components and institutionalised capacity-building by expanding training programmes at the High-Speed Rail Training Institute, Vadodara, with international expertise.
The panel noted the Railways’ efforts under the Make in India initiative to indigenise high-speed rail skills and components, but called for faster indigenisation and greater capacity building.
“The Committee reiterate the Railways to undertake a comprehensive study of successful high-speed rail networks in countries where such systems are operating efficiently. The Ministry may like to apprise the Committee of the efforts being undertaken for such study for its future High-Speed Rail (HSR) corridors as announced in the Union Budget 2026-27,” the report said.
The committee also welcomed the announcement of seven new high-speed rail corridors in the 2026-27 Union Budget, while emphasising that land acquisition and other statutory clearances should be completed before projects are sanctioned to ensure time-bound implementation and safeguard their financial viability.
The seven corridors are Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.
{{/usCountry}}The seven corridors are Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.
{{/usCountry}}On the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project, the committee noted that its cost has increased from the ₹97,636 crore at which it was approved in 2015, mainly due to taxes and cess, rolling stock and signalling, inflation, and higher land acquisition and rehabilitation costs. The revised estimate is under sanction.
The committee also appreciated efforts to begin operations using the B28, a Bharat-made bullet trainset capable of 280 kmph, on the 97-km Surat-Vapi stretch in August 2027. It recommended a robust execution framework for better inter-agency coordination, early identification of bottlenecks and faster completion of utility-shifting works.