Indians’ dream of bullet train is now going to become reality. Amidst the long wait, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has made it clear when the country’s first bullet train will run on the tracks. The Railway Minister informed during a press conference that this ambitious project of India is moving towards its final stages and soon passengers will be able to experience high-speed rail.
The country’s first high-speed train will run on the tracks on August 15, 2027, the journey will start on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor.
According to the Railway Minister, India’s first bullet train will start operating on 15 August 2027. It will be operated on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor. A 508 kilometer long corridor is being prepared for this project, on which the bullet train will run at a stormy speed of 320 kilometers per hour. This train will run between Sabarmati and Mumbai, which will significantly reduce the travel time between these two major cities.
The first stop will be a journey of 100 km between Surat and Vapi, the entire service will be started in several phases.
There is a plan to start the Bullet Train service not simultaneously, but in several phases. Vaishnav said that in its maiden journey in August 2027, the Bullet train will cover a distance of 100 kilometers between Surat and Vapi. Earlier the inaugural yatra was planned on the 50 km stretch between Surat and Bilimora, which has now been extended. After this, the route from Vapi to Surat, then from Vapi to Ahmedabad and finally from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will be opened in a phased manner.
The journey of 508 kilometers will be completed in just 2 hours, time will be decided on the basis of stopping at stations.
This train will set new records in terms of speed. The minister informed that if the Bullet train stops only at four major stations, the distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be covered in just 1 hour 58 minutes. At the same time, even if it stops at all the 12 stations on the route, the entire journey will be completed in only 2 hours and 17 minutes, which is much less time than the existing trains.
Challenges of land acquisition extended the deadline, now the dream will come true in 2027 instead of 2023.
The foundation of this project was laid in the year 2017 and the original target to start it was December 2023. However, work was delayed due to land acquisition and other technical challenges, leading to extension of the deadline. Now, overcoming all the obstacles, there is complete preparation to start it by 2027 and the construction work is going on at a fast pace.
Prime Minister Modi took stock of the preparations in Surat, suggested to save the experience by making a ‘Blue Book’
Seeing the seriousness of the project, in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself visited the bullet train station being built in Surat. There he reviewed the ongoing work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor. While interacting with the engineers and employees, he took updates on the timeline and speed target of the project. The Prime Minister suggested that the experiences gained during this project should be documented in the form of a ‘Blue Book’, so that in future, when India implements such projects on a large scale, there would be no need for repeated experiments and the work could be done faster.
