* Population of Andaman & Nicobar islands is just about 4 lacs with a substantial population of tribals/nomads who live in jungles/interior area move only by foot. So local traffic hardly justifies operation of buses.
* In spite of appreciable tourist potential, traffic from main land of India to A&N Islands is limited due to high cost of air tickets to and from Andaman. Tourists who can afford the air tickets can also afford and prefer to move by taxi rather than the proposed train.
* The -9.64 rate of return is...
more... horrible, i.e. after construction of line, instead of paying back the cost , it will require 10% of cost every year to sustain and shall become a financial burden on govt.
* The construction cost of Rs 2413.68 crores appears to be highly deflated. In doubling projects on fairly flat terrain, the construction cost per km of rail line is upwards of Rs 10 Crores/KM. In treacherous terrain of A&N island, and huge transportation cost of construction machines and materials, the cost per km of new line shall be about Rs 15-30 crores per km. i.e. project cost of about 4000-7000 Crore Rs. or even more. With that construction cost, the rate of return may distort to -20% or worse.
* By comparison, travel via the proposed 240km broad-gauge railway line will take just three hours. This too appears impractical.