NHSRCL to speed up process to prepare DPR for other Bullet Train projects

New Delhi: A week after the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) carried out an aerial LiDAR survey of the 800 km Delhi-Varanasi High Speed rail corridor, the work on the survey for Delhi-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Nagpur are also slated to be launched soon as the tenders have been awarded, officials said.

NHSRCL spokesperson Sushma Gaur told IANS: "Tenders related to data collection and various other activities including LiDAR survey, required for the preparation of Detail Project Reports for Delhi-Varanasi, for which the first draft of the DPR has already been submitted.

"For Delhi-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor and Mumbai-Nagpur high speed rail corridor, tenders are already awarded and the work is under progress."

She said that LiDAR survey on these two corridors could start soon.

Gaur further said that tenders related to LiDAR survey on Mumbai-Hydrabad and Delhi-Amritsar have also been awarded.

"We are working on finalising tenders for preparation of DPRs for other corridors like Chennai-Mysore and Varanasi-Howrah," she said.

When queried about when the DPR for these corridors will be finalised, she said that it will be completed in a phased manner by 2021 and 2022.

Last year, the NHSRCL has decided to carry out the detailed project report (DPR) for the 711-km-long Mumbai-Hyderabad high-speed rail corridor, which will pass through Pune; the 459-km-long Delhi-Amritsar-Chandigarh; 800-km-long Delhi-Varanasi; 753-km-long Mumbai-Nagpur; 886-km-long Delhi-Ahmedabad stretches; as well as the 711-km-long Mumbai-Hyderabad bullet train corridor.

The NHSRCL is collecting data on these new proposed corridors for the preparation of the DPRs.

It is also currently constructing the 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project, popularly known as the Bullet Train Project.

On January 10, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) launched the LiDAR survey for the Delhi-Varanasi route from Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida, wherein a helicopter fitted with state-of-the-art aerial LiDAR and imagery sensors will capture data related to the ground survey along the proposed route.

LiDAR survey alignment or ground survey is a crucial activity for any linear infrastructure project as it provides accurate details of areas around the alignment.

This technique uses a combination of laser data, GPS data, flight parameters and actual photographs to give accurate survey data.

"Based on the findings of the survey, designing of the vertical and horizontal alignment, structures, location of the stations and depots, land requirement for the corridor, identification of project affected plots/structures, right of way etc are decided," Gaur said.

The NHSRCL is yet to invite tenders for 435-km-long Chennai-Mysuru and 760-km-long Varanasi-Howrah high speed rail corridors'.

She further said that the work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project is also in full swing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had laid the foundation stone for the MAHSR corridor on September 14, 2017.