India Approves Seven New Bullet Train Corridors

Representational image, used only for representational purpose

India’s high-speed rail ambitions received a new push as the Centre has approved seven bullet train corridors across the country, promising shorter travel times between major cities and stronger rail connectivity. The seven high speed rail corridors are:

Mumbai to Ahmedabad will take 1 hour 57 minutes.

Mumbai to Pune will take 48 minutes.

Bengaluru to Chennai will take 73 minutes.

Bengaluru to Hyderabad will take 2 hours 10 minutes.

Pune to Hyderabad will take 2 hours 8 minutes.

Delhi to Lucknow will take 2 hours.

Delhi to Varanasi will take 3 hours 15 minutes.

Delhi to Siliguri will take 6 hours.

The announcement comes as the government continues to step up its high speed railway expansion across the country. Earlier on Friday, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary inaugurated a new weekly train service between Chhapra Junction and Anand Vihar Terminal. During the event, Vaishnaw also virtually flagged off two additional train services connecting Maul to Delhi and Zahirghat to Varanasi. Addressing the gathering, Vaishnaw said Bihar would receive more than 200 new trains over the next seven to eight years as part of a major railway expansion programme. He added that projects worth over Rs 1.15 lakh crore are currently underway in the state, which he described as witnessing unprecedented growth in railway infrastructure. The railway minister also announced that the Delhi–Varanasi–Patna bullet train corridor has been approved. According to him, the proposed high-speed rail line will cut travel time between Patna and Delhi to just 4 hours and 41 minutes once operational. He further said there are plans to extend the corridor to Siliguri in the future. India’s first bullet train project was officially launched in 2017, although discussions on a high-speed rail link between Mumbai and Ahmedabad had begun earlier. The 508-km Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor is being developed with technical and financial assistance from Japan using the Shinkansen system.