Sorry to correct you but bullet train tracks can be used by frieght and normal trains in night leading to lower pressure on normal tracks and increasing uses of HSR.
Subject to many assumptions. Freight trains typically run at slower speed which would be scientifically disadvantageous insofar as it would lead to significant wear of track. So the only practical usage would be high-speed freight.
High speed freight would increase freight charges - no study has been made as to whether those would be economically viable - I would be surprised if it was because speed is not an important factor in rail shipments. It's also not something that has proven to be successful internationally.
Even high-speed freight would cause track fatigue - and for track built at a cost of 6-7x of normal track it does not seem like judicious use of an expensive resource.
http://www.strc.ch/conferences/2009/Vidaud.pdf
https://railturkey.org/2014/12/18/high-speed-and-freight-trains-on-same-line/
If government works, its criminal and if it doesn't work then it again is criminal. I don't understand what is the problem with some problem. When government is already building more than 3000 kms of not all tracks per year and still increasing the average speed, industrial corridor going in full swing and about to be operationalized shortly, it doesn't make sense why high speed railways have to be sacrificed to fill the pockets of some politicians if they come in power next. In that case you will nither get HSR nor normal tracks. And maybe that's better output for you people.
Don't be silly - spending tens of thousands of crores (if not lakhs of crores) of public money on a completely new infrastructure platform that fills no meaningful niche is hardly an example of government 'working'.
There are plenty of low-cost and high-cost projects that the money could be used for.
- concretising major stretches of highway between important satellite towns - approx cost Rs 5 crore / km (20 m of HSR track)
- building low cost airport terminals - cost Rs 1,000 crores (10 km of HSR track)
- replacing older coaches - cost 3 crores a coach (30 m of HSR track)
- better rail safety (between 2009-10 and 2014-15, there were a total of 803 accidents in killing 620 people and injuring 1855 people. 47% of these accidents were due to derailments)
- better station amenities - retiring rooms, safety
These are things the vast majority of rail travellers will use and benefit from - and most can be done at a fraction of the cost of HSR rail. Outside transportation there are a million better ways to use money I can think of. The university in India where I did my first degree was a government university - there was just one photocopier and it created a million headaches. Money can be used to improve infra of universities, hospitals, police thanas, etc.
But no, we need HSR to fill some ego gap that exists in our head, some recognition need that craves satisfaction -no matter how unscientific. The irony is that most of those cheering for such wasteful expenditure will cheerfully prefer a flight over the HSR train if cost is within 10-15%.
