When India's dream of becoming a "manufacturing powerhouse" has become a distant aspiration for the Modi government, the distorted existence of the "semi-high-speed rail" was born, even breaking some unexpected world records.
Faced with India's domestic multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail projects, many countries are cautious about this huge market. Even China, a nation that often provides support to its neighboring countries, has chosen to remain silent and distant.
So, why are countries reluctant to participate in India's high-speed rail project?
The answer is not that they don't want a share of the pie, but because they cannot bear the potential risks.
Trying to push forward forcibly will only lead to a predicament similar to what Japan is facing.
India, a country full of "miracles" on the international stage, has the world's fourth-largest railway network, only behind China, the United States, and Russia, but its railway technology is far inferior to Japan's—one could say the gap is vast.
This is not surprising, as most of India's existing railway system is inherited from the British colonial period.
Although these railway facilities are old and dilapidated, they remain an indispensable part of the daily lives of the Indian people.
Trains are the preferred mode of transportation for long-distance travel in India and are one of the most affordable means of transportation.
Perhaps you have seen images of Indian trains "packed" with passengers, and even felt concerned for their safety.
In fact, the accident rate on Indian railways is far higher than in other countries.
According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau of India, from 2017 to 2021, over 100,000 people died in railway accidents in India, with an average of 20,000 deaths per year.
Despite this, the Indian people's reliance on and enthusiasm for trains remain strong, putting enormous pressure on the Modi government to improve the railway infrastructure.
To promote railway reform, the Modi government decided to seek help from countries with high-speed rail technology, and China, the global leader in this field, naturally became the top choice.
However, Japan, a country with "Shinkansen" technology, strongly opposed China's involvement and attempted to win the contract for India's high-speed rail project.
In a joint bid from 12 countries, Japan managed to snatch the project from China by offering terms beyond expectations.
To China, this seemed more like a stroke of luck, as Japan took on what could be described as a "hot potato."
India chose Japan not only because of Japan's willingness to offer favorable cooperation terms but also due to geopolitical considerations.
A decade earlier, Japan had already entered India's railway market and established relatively close cooperation.
Additionally, at that time, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was eager to suppress China in the high-speed rail sector, making it almost inevitable that the construction of India's high-speed rail project fell into Japan's hands.
In December 2015, Abe visited India to jointly plan the future of bilateral cooperation with Modi.
According to the plan at the time, Japan, with its Shinkansen technology, would easily improve India's railway system.
The two countries quickly finalized the cooperation agreement, but the price Japan paid clearly exceeded expectations.
The high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, constructed by Japan, spans 508 kilometers and passes through 12 stations. Once completed, it is expected to benefit half of India's population.
However, the Modi government was short on funds, and this project, costing over 1 trillion rupees, was something India could not afford on its own.
Japan ultimately had to provide a loan of up to 800 billion rupees to India at an extremely low-interest rate.
Japan paid a huge financial price to push the project forward, but in return, they faced endless problems.
India's land acquisition issues remained unresolved for a long time.
The impoverished people living below the poverty line refused to give up their land, and the Indian government did not have sufficient funds for compensation, leading to repeated delays in the project.
By 2021, India had only completed 30% of the land acquisition, and progress remained slow.
Japan could only collect 0.1% interest from the loan annually, but recovering the principal seemed almost impossible.
In 2019, India launched the "Vande Bharat" semi-high-speed rail, which broke several world records shortly after its introduction, though these records were rather embarrassing.
The "Vande Bharat" train, with a speed of only 160 kilometers per hour, earned the title of "world's slowest high-speed train," and its low fare of just 250 rupees made it the "world's cheapest high-speed train."
More embarrassingly, in 2022, the newly launched next-generation semi-high-speed train, "Vande Bharat 2.0," collided with several cows just one day after entering service, severely damaging the engine.
Although the accident did not cause any casualties, it is clear that India's semi-high-speed rail construction is fraught with issues.
In 2019 alone, India recorded 5,500 train-cow collision incidents, making it an international laughing stock.
Despite the Modi government's continued fantasy of "Make in India," it is evident that India still has a long way to go in the high-speed rail sector.
India, while attempting to modernize its domestic infrastructure through the high-speed rail project, is facing numerous real-world challenges.
Whether it is the land acquisition difficulties, lack of funding, or the complex political and economic situation, this once ambitious project has turned into a "trap" for global investors.
And Japan, as the party that snatched the contract, is deeply entangled in the Indian high-speed rail dilemma, becoming one of the casualties in this high-risk gamble.
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