The Indian Railways is prepared to formalise collaboration with Swiss firms for tunnelling works on significant projects, such as the Rishikesh-Karna Prayag New Railway Line and the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL).
In a written response in Rajya Sabha, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw mentioned that an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy, and Communications (DETEC) of the Swiss Confederation and the Ministry of Railways for technological cooperation in the railway sector is currently being considered.
As per Vaishnaw, the collaboration will encompass various aspects of a railway project, including rolling stock, railway infrastructure, rail safety, train scheduling, operational improvements, multimodal transport, new technologies, and innovation. Additionally, other areas for joint identification by the participants will be explored.
