New Delhi/Tokyo — Japan’s government and its rail companies lobbied the US for years to sell its bullet-train technology and found little success. Finally, there’s an international buyer: India. The South Asian country is poised to become the first nation to import the iconic "Shinkansen" bullet trains, which will be a highlight of India’s infrastructure upgrade programme. The Japanese government has also agreed to fund most of the $17bn needed for the project that will become part of Asia’s oldest railway network. Japan had previously given its super-fast train technology only to Taiwan. On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan’s Shinzo Abe will formally kick off a plan to build the 505km bullet train line — roughly the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Financing by Japan also means business farmed out to companies such as Hitachi and East Japan Railway — and an opportunity lost for China’s CRRC Corporation and European manufacturers, including Alstom. For ...
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