Indian Railways eyes ten more bullet train routes: Details here
What's the story
The Indian Railways is looking to expand the bullet train network. Reportedly, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), which is currently working on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad rail corridor has been asked to study the viability of ten more bullet train routes. Notably, a Ministry-level meeting is likely to be conducted in this regard on Wednesday. Here's more on this.
Information
About the project
The entire bullet train project, comprising 10 rail routes will cover a total distance of about 6,000 kilometers. The estimated total cost of the project stands at Rs. 10 lakh crore.
Routes
Speculated routes
According to a Railway Board member, bullet train operations are being considered to connect Varanasi and the national capital, through Delhi-Lucknow via Kanpur and Lucknow to Varanasi via Sultanpur route. Other rail routes where the bullet train is expected to run are New Delhi-Amritsar, New Delhi-Kolkata, Patna-Kolkata, New Delhi-Mumbai, and Chennai-Bengaluru.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad
Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor
The 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train network, which is currently under works, is expected to cut the travel time between the two cities by 5 hours, reducing it to 2 hours. Once completed, there will be a total of 12 stations in the journey, including Bandra Kurla Complex, Virar, Thane, Surat, Sabarmati, Baroda and Ahmedabad. The project is likely to conclude between 2022 and 2023.