Source: Global Times

[Global Times reporter, Yuan Jirong, Global Times special correspondent in Japan, Wang Jun] Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Japan on August 30, and the two sides reached a series of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. Among them, the much-watched Indian high-speed rail project has also made new progress. The Japan News Network reported on August 31 that the two sides confirmed that India's first high-speed rail project, the Meng-Ai high-speed rail, will introduce the "E10 series" Shinkansen train, which is currently being developed by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East Japan) and is expected to run in India in 2030. The two sides also announced that they will start training for drivers and related personnel to prepare for the official operation in the future.

On August 30, Shigeru Ishiba and Modi boarded the "Falcon" of the Tohoku Shinkansen at Tokyo Station and headed for Sendai together. Shigeru Ishiba posted photos of the two sitting side by side on social media and wrote: "Ride with Prime Minister Modi and continue to communicate on the train." The two also visited the Shinkansen "ALFA-X Series" electric EMU and listened to the introduction by the president of the East Japan Railway Company on the performance and other characteristics of the new Shinkansen train.

According to reports, India's first high-speed railway construction project previously advanced by the two governments is planned to connect the western Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Mumbai, with a total length of about 500 kilometers and a running time of about two hours. However, the high-speed railway, which started in 2017 and is scheduled to open in 2023, has been delayed several times due to various reasons. "India's first high-speed rail project is in trouble, mainly because it relies on Japanese technology and funds." The British "International Railway Journal" reported that the high-speed railway's operating trains were originally planned to use the "E5 series" model, but the price skyrocketed due to reasons such as the suspension of production, which caused dissatisfaction from the Indian side and intended to use cheaper domestic trains. The total project cost, estimated at about 1.80 trillion yen, is expected to rise, with about 80% of it dependent on yen loans. The project will hardly be a success if the heavily invested tracks cannot run Japanese-made trains.

In order to break the deadlock, relevant Japanese personnel visited India many times and communicated with many parties. The final solution is to run Indian-made trains first when the Mengai high-speed railway is partially opened in 2027, and then replace them after the delivery of the "E10 Series". This plan finally made India, which was once tough, make concessions, and even expressed its hope that Japan would participate in the subsequent railway construction, but it still needed to bid.

"The project is similar to the success of the Maruti Suzuki joint venture about 40 years ago, but its scale and strategic significance are more significant," the Hindustan Times quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying. Another person familiar with the matter said that the "E10 series" provided to India will be specially modified according to India's specific conditions.

Although the two sides have made some progress on the railway project, the International Railway Journal reports that there are still differences between Indian and Japanese engineers on many parts of the project. For example, in terms of signal system, Japan has always insisted on adopting the cable technology used in Shinkansen. However, the National High Speed Railway Corporation of India Limited recently awarded a seven-year contract to a joint venture in the country to provide a transitional signaling system for the project. Sultanshu Mani, a former official of Indian Railways, said: "This means that the Mengai high-speed railway will operate using a parallel signaling system, which will lead to higher costs."

For the latest agreement reached by the two sides on the high-speed rail project, Japanese domestic media and some netizens interpreted it as "the victory of Japanese technology".But there are also people who pointed out that India will sooner or later independently develop high-speed rail system, Japan can not rely only on already achieved results, but should ensure long-term cooperation through the export of a complete operating system and talent training.

According to reports, Japan's Tohoku Shinkansen has suffered frequent failures in the past year. In September last year, the connectors of "Falcon" and "Komachi" fell off and separated during driving, and the same accident happened again in March this year. In June this year, the new "E8 Series" could not be accelerated due to the failure of the power supply device. The most recent time was on August 24th, when 49 trains of Tohoku Shinkansen, Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen were shut down due to abnormal vehicles, affecting about 69,000 passengers.