Indian Railways and
German Railways to set up a working group on safety
German government
agrees to positively consider the request of Indian Railway Minister to extend Germany
- sponsored high Speed rail study of Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai corridor to Vijayawada
city in Andhra Pradesh
The Indian Railways
and a German Railway company together to focus on many areas of cooperation in Rail
sector
Union Minister of Railways, Govt. of
India Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today here held discussions with the
visiting German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Mr.
Alexander Dobrindt at Rail Bhavan, the Headquarters. Of Indian Ministry of
Railways. Mr. Alexander Dobrindt is on an official visit to India from
12-14 October, 2016 especially on an invitation from the Indian Railway
Minister. The two sides were accompanied by their respective delegations
during the bilateral talks.
The visit of the German Minister is
a follow up visit to the visit of Shri Suresh Prabhu to Germany in April, 2016
whereat a Protocol with German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital
Infrastructure Mr. Alexander Dobrindt was signed to intensify the cooperation
in rail sector between two countries.
The two sides held wide ranging discussions on many specific areas
of mutual interest in rail sector. The areas include speed raising, capacity
increase of passenger & goods transport lines, safety, energy efficient
rail operations, education & training, high speed rail, standards &
norms and station development.
On the suggestion of Indian Railway Minister, it was decided that
a joint working group of Indian Railways and German Railways will be formed to
work on safety in rail operations with a view to help in the “Zero Accident
Mission” of Indian Railways. The Working Group would look into the
training, technology and processes for improving the safety. This Working Group
on Safety would be a deliverable on Inter-Government Consultations tentatively
planned in Berlin in May, 2017. The German Minister also extended invite
to Indian Railway officials to visit Germany to see their technology and safety
systems.
In a significant suggestion, the
Indian Railway Minister requested the German side for extending their proposal
of high speed(300 kmph +) rail study of Mysore -Bangalore –Chennai Corridor to
Vijayawada city of the important State of Andhra Pradesh also. It was pointed
out that High Speed Rail Connectivity through Mysore -Banglore
–Chennai-Vijayawada Corridor will give boost to the regional development and
will link the important States of Southern India. The German Minister
acknowledged this request of extending scope of study to include Vijayawada and
assured to look into this positively. The study which is fully funded by German
Government is likely to start from January, 2017.
The Indian Railway Minister
emphasised on Station Redevelopment Programme of Indian Railways along with
development of Smart Cities in India. The German Minister welcomed this idea
and offered German cooperation on this matter.
The German side expressed willingness to undertake feasibility
study on speed upgradation on the existing Indian Railway network. The two
sides decided to discuss this issue further and finalize the Railway Corridor
for this kind of study.
The Chairman, Indian Railway Board Shri A.K. Mital mentioned for
cooperation in improving staff productivity on Indian Railways.
The two sides also agreed that
Indian Railways and DB Engineering & Consultancy (wholly owned subsidiary
of Deutsche Bahn-DB, the German Railway) together will focus on the following
areas of cooperation : -
i.
Freight operations (including cross-border
transport, automotive transport and logistics)
ii.
Passenger operations (including
high-speed and cross-border traffic)
iii.
Infrastructure building and
management (including dedicated freight corridors and development of passenger
stations)
iv.
Development of a modern, competitive
railway organization (including the improvement of organizational structures)
v.
IT solutions for railway operations,
marketing and sales as well as administrative purposes
vi.
Any other area which may be mutually
agreed in writing between the two parties.
The Indian Side included Mr. A K Mital, CRB, Mr. Achal Khare, Adv./infra,
Mr. Naveen Kumar Shukla, Adv/Mobility, Mr.
Rajeev Chaudhary, Adv/L&A, Mr
G V L Satyakumar, EDPP, Mr S B Bhamu, ED Sig
Dev, Mr. S K Saha, EDEE Dev, Mr. Sandeep Srivastava, Dir Plg Spl, Mr. Nitin Choudhary, EDME (dev), Mr. Randir Kumar Jaiswal, JS/EW/MEA, Mr. Abhishek Dubey, US/EW/MEA while the German
delegation included Dr. Johann Bertl, Head of the Minister's Office, Mr. Sebastian Hille, Head of the Press
and Communications, Ms. Petra Bethge, Head of the International Relations & Foreign Trade
Department, Mr. Wolfgang Küpper, Head of Rail Division Policy, Mr. Karsten Geburtig, Deputy Head
of Division International Relations and Foreign Trade, Ms. Sarah Weber, Translator, Mr. Wolfram Neuhöfer, EBA, Dr. Jochen
Eickholt, CEO Siemens Mobility, Mr. Sunil Mathur, Siemens India, Dr. Andre
Zeug, Chairman, Deutsche Bahn Station &
Service AG, Dr. Jens Gräfer, International Business Division, Deutsche Bahn AG, Mr. Ralf Kersting, Vice President, DIHK, H.E. Dr. Martin Ney, The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mrs. Yasmin Sadeghi, Counsellor
for Transport & Digital Infrastructure, German Embassy.
BACKGROUNDER
· On 5th October, 2015, a Joint Declaration of Intent
(JDI) was signed on the Development of the Cooperation in the Field of Railways
between the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure of the
Federal Republic of Germany and the Ministry of Railways, India during the
visit of German Chancellor to India. In this JDI, German side has shown
willingness to conduct a study on the feasibility of High Speed Rail in India.
· In April 2016, Minister for Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu visited
Germany and signed a Protocol with German Federal Minister of Transport and
Digital Infrastructure Mr. Alexander Dobrindt, to intensify the cooperation in
rail sector between two countries.
· On 31st May, 2016, during meeting in Rail Bhavan,
between Chairman Railway Board and visiting State Secretary, Ministry of
Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Germany, Mr. Michael, it was decided that
Germany will conduct feasibility study for High Speed Rail of Chennai –
Bangalore - Mysore section.
· On 13th October, 2016, a meeting of the Working Group
of both the countries has been conducted at Rail Bhavan to discuss these
matters.
· On 14th October, 2016, Indian Railway Minister Suresh
Prabhakar Prabhu held discussions with visiting German Federal Minister of
Transport and Digital Infrastructure Mr. Alexander Dobrindt in Rail Bhavan.
AKS/DK