Not against any project but bullet train economically unviable: Congress

Congress spokesperson R P N Singh was also present at the news conference. Kharge said the UPA government had signed $ 7-billion agreement with Japan in 2013 envisaged under the Delhi-Mumbai Economic Corridor that would have also led to introduction of bullet trains. The agreement, he said, mentioned the details of the High Speed Railway Line on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.

“The Prime Minister and his Japanese counterpart laid the foundation stone today…. We are not against any project or development. But what is your intention?” Kharge asked. “It (the project) is not economically viable,” he said. “The airfare between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is around Rs 2,000. And it takes only 70 minutes. Your fare (for the train) would be between Rs 2,800 and Rs 5,000… so it will be profitable only if at least 1 lakh people travel by bullet train…. Otherwise it will incur losses,” he said.

The Congress said the government instead of focusing on bullet trains should give priority to improving railway infrastructure, safety and filling up of vacancies. “What is the most distressing is that the BJP government is focusing on this one big project at the cost of Rs 1.1 lakh crore and has completely abdicated responsibility towards safety of crores of passengers who travel daily by train,” he said.