German Vossing to submit report on Maglev project

Mumbai: German Consulting major Vossing have been selected by the Maharashtra government for its ambitious high-speed magnetic elevated (Maglev) train project on three major corridors in the state.

Maharashtra Finance Minister Jayant Patil said that Vossing had been asked to submit a pre-feasibility report within eight days. If successfully implemented, it could bring the hinterlands of Vidarbha and Marathwada on par as far as development is concern with the rest of the state, he claimed.

Of the three, the most ambitious is a invest 1,000 km corridor between Mumbai and Nagpur, a distance which currently takes around 14 hours to cover, can be reached in three and half hours flat.

The state government also wants to connect the current international airport and the proposed airport at Navi Mumbai through this service.
The Chinese Maglev train service covers the distance between Shanghai and the international airport at Pudong (35 kM) in just 7 minutes and 20 seconds.

The other corridor on which the state wants to run the Maglev is the industrial belt of Mumbai-Pune-Nashik.

The Chattisgadh government is also interested in extension of the corridor between Mumbai and Nagpur till Raipur. It recently wrote a letter to us asking for the study to cover an extension of the corridor, Patil added.

Various consulting major bidding for the contract for pre-feasibility included – Louis Berger Group in association with Reliance Industries-promoted Urban Infrastructure Development Co, KPMG, Vossing (Germany), TUV.SUD South Asia, Rohit Gupta & Associates, and Bhobe & Associates.

The consultant will also examine various technology options for the project and will prepare bids and detailed project report.