IIM-A study to highlight benefits of bullet trains
21 Jul 2011
With the Gujarat government mooting a Rs56,000 crore Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune bullet train project, the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad has decided to conduct research study that would quantify the benefits of the service.
The study, which would be part of an ongoing research on 'Sustainable urban transport,' is being conducted by IIM-A faculty P R Shukla. It is aimed at estimating the actual economic, social and environmental benefits that bullet trains would offer vis-a-vis airplanes.
According to Shukla, the bullet train service would result in cutting air passengers, resulting in reduction of carbon footprint by a factor of nine.
He added that while an Ahmedabad-Mumbai to and fro trip by air released 156 kilograms of carbon per person, the same trip by a bullet train would release only 18 kilograms of carbon.
He added that the carbon foot print would reduce even further with the generation of electricity through more carbon free sources.
Further expanding on the theme Shukla said, while flying to a destination involved long check-in and check-out times which added to the total travelling time, the drawback would be eliminated in a bullet train, making it much more convenient and also probably making for comparable total travel times.