The country’s first bullet train running between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is being awaited for a long time. Recently, during a program, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had told that the operation of the bullet trains will start in the year 2026. He said that the government is working day and night for the convenience of the passengers. The government has taken many steps in this direction, and its results have also started coming.
Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had also indicated about the fare of the bullet trains. He had said that no decision has been taken on rent yet. But it will be within the reach of the people. For this, the basis of First AC is being made, which is not very much. From this, it is clear that the fare of the bullet train will be equal to the first AC.
The Railway Minister also said that the fare of the bullet train will be less than the flight and the facilities will also be good in it. However, he said that the rent will be fixed only after the completion of the project. The government is very serious about the country’s bullet train project. The second high-speed rail project will be started only after the completion of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project.
He also visited Surat to take stock of the progress of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project. He had said that the government has set a target of running the first bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in 2026. Good progress is being made in this and we are confident that by then we will complete the work of running the train.
It is proposed to run a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad at a speed of 320 kmph. There is a total distance of 508 km between the two cities and it will have 12 stations. This train will reduce the travel time between the two cities to three hours. Right now it takes six hours. The total estimated cost of this project is Rs 1.1 lakh crore.
Proposed Bullet Train:
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train will also have fast and slow services. Fast service (with limited halts) will cover the distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in just 2.07 hours while slow service will cover the distance of 508 km in 2.58 hours. Currently, the fastest train on this route – Shatabdi Express takes over 6.15 hours to cover the distance between both the cities.
As per the initial plan, ‘fast’ bullet train services will have only three stops (Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad) between Mumbai (BKC) and Ahmedabad while ‘slow’ services will halts at stations from starting points including Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, and Ahmedabad.
The project is aimed at running the bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai on a high-speed rail (HSR) corridor at a speed of 320 kmph. The train is expected to reduce the travel time between the two cities to less than three hours from the current 6.15 hours. According to the minister of railway, this project has generated massive employment opportunities with more than 1 lakh jobs ( man-hours) being created yearly.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding 81 percent of the project cost which is estimated at Rs 1.1 lakh crore. Vaishnav said pillars for the bullet train project have been put up on 61 km of the route and work is underway on around 150 km of the stretch.
