The Creed Of Speed

Achal Khare, MD, NHSRCL, has been working faster than a speeding bullet to ensure that high-speed rail in India takes shape

- Jayashree Kini Mendes

A few years ago, if Indians were asked about whizzing in a train that would travel 320-350km per hour, they would have scoffed at the idea. Even if the country did get one, it would not be for another 30 years, would be anybody’s guess.

Today, the national High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL), the nodal agency responsible for high-speed rail or bullet trains, is working on seven different routes, with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) being the most talked about. Ask Achal Khare, MD, NHSRCL, about the prestigious projects, and he says, “The depth of work is unimaginable. Today we are awarding some of the largest contracts in the country. Just like covid-19, the bullet train contracts are unprecedented.”

For Khare, this is all in a day’s work. In his earlier stints, he has tackled and seen through novel projects like Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla construction; the $1 billion railway project between Seremban to Gemas as part of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore line; coordination of the Dedicated Freight Corridors and the high speed rail project of MumbaiAhmedabad, among others.

HOW FAST IS FAST ENOUGH