New Delhi: 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 : –
- Freight operations (including cross-border transport, automotive transport and logistics)
- Passenger operations (including high-speed and cross-border traffic)
iii. Infrastructure building and management (including dedicated freight corridors and development of passenger stations)
- Development of a modern, competitive railway organization (including the improvement of organizational structures)
- IT solutions for railway operations, marketing and sales as well as administrative purposes
- 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.
