Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the Rising Bharat Summit has announced that the country’s first bullet train service will be launched by 2026 between Ahmedabad- Mumbai. “India’s first bullet train will be ready in 2026, and will run in one section from Surat,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project will prove to be a corridor of economic prosperity, transforming towns and cities along the route and becoming a learning experience for future initiatives.
The project plans to deploy Japan’s Shinkansen Technology at an estimated cost of Rs 1.10 lakh crore. Services for the project are expected to begin by 2026.
HSR stations in Gujarat’s Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati are in various stages of construction, the NHSRCL said.
The high-speed rail line is being built using Japan’s Shinkansen technology, and the project aims to create a high-frequency mass transportation system.
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The project has been funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore from Japan.
Ashwini Vaishnaw said the bullet train corridor will integrate big economic centres such as Mumbai, Thane, Vapi, Surat, Vadodara, Anand and Ahmedabad and is good for the country’s economic growth.
“At many stations significant progress has been made,” he said. “As per the proposal, the bullet train will pass through a sea tunnel to reach Mumbai from Thane. The work on the sea tunnel has begun,” he added.
Announced in 2017, the country’s first high-speed train corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will see bullet trains running at a speed of 320 kmph.
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In 2017, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, which is executing the project, had given a deadline of 2022 for completing the whole project. The project deadline was subsequently extended.
