India Must Prove Safety Before Mixing Domestic and Japanese Bullet Trains, Says Rail Expert

Safety and Systems

India must demonstrate that it is entirely safe to operate two different varieties of bullet trains and their respective signalling frameworks on the same high-speed corridor before eventually choosing just one of them. Masafumi Shukuri, who serves as the chairman of the Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute and the International High-Speed Rail Association, stated that running a mixed fleet of two distinct systems on a single line has no prior precedent anywhere in the world. He added that carrying passengers at 300 kilometres per hour under any uncertain conditions involving dual systems is not feasible without formal proof of safety, meaning one system will eventually need to be adopted over the other.

Project Progress and Collaboration

Discussing the ongoing Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project, Shukuri noted that the massive 500-kilometre alignment is progressing strongly despite initial disruptions like land acquisition delays and the Covid-19 pandemic. Japan has 62 years of high-speed rail experience since its first line opened in 1964, and Shukuri pointed out that even in modern Japan, a 500-kilometre track cannot be built in under ten years. He also noted that India plans to commission a partial priority section using domestically manufactured rolling stock to meet specific schedule priorities, while future cooperation includes a joint declaration from July between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Takaichi regarding the future introduction of Japan's E10 series rolling stock in the early 2030s.

Context

High-speed rail networks require complex coordination between civil works, tracks, signalling, and maintenance, which industry experts refer to as a total systems approach where crash avoidance is the absolute priority. Introducing domestically built trains alongside foreign technology requires extensive trial runs and skilled personnel to ensure seamless operations. Major infrastructure projects of this scale often navigate long timelines due to engineering challenges and land procurement hurdles.