The hurdles delaying India’s high-speed trains from running on fast track

The pace of India’s journey to put on track a high-speed rail, or bullet train, seems to have slowed down with land acquisition for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project failing to meet yet another deadline last week. Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde had set a September 30 deadline for completing the land acquisition.

At the same time, Kerala government’s ambitious semi-high-speed SilverLine or K-Rail project is also in a limbo due to widespread protests. Last week, the Railways ministry also said that the state is yet to submit several technical documents.

Here’s an assessment of the status of planned and ongoing high-speed and semi-high-speed rail projects in India. Semi-high-speed trains are those that travel at speeds of 160-200 kmph,