Everything about India’s first bullet train project
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Bullet Train project is expected to be completed by Dec 2023 and work has begun on Sept 14.
India is all set to get her first bullet train. On Sept 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe jointly laid the foundation stone for India’s first high-speed rail project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Speaking on the occasion in Ahmedabad, Modi said a new economic system is being developed along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, and the entire area would become a single economic zone.
Here are all facts you need to know about India’s first bullet train that will run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad:
1. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Bullet Train project is expected to be completed by Dec 2023. However, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said all efforts are being made to complete the project by Aug 15, 2022.
2. Work on the bullet train project has begun on Sept 14 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
3. The train will cover the distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad within three hours.
4. India’s first bullet train will have a maximum design speed of 350 kmph and operating speed of 320 kmph.
5. As per the Ministry of Railways, total project cost of the bullet train is estimated to be Rs.1,08,000 crore – 81% of the project cost is being funded by Government of Japan loan for 50 years at 0.1% per annual interest with 15 years moratorium periods.
6. The length of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is 508 km (approximately) . There will be doubleline through two states, Maharashtra(156 km)and Gujarat (351 km) and UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (2 km).
7. It will have the longest railway tunnel of 21 km between Boisar and Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, of which, 7 km will be undersea (Thane Creek).
8. The train will stop at 12 stations for 165 seconds each: Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad, Sabarmati. Underground station Mumbai, all others elevated.
9. The bullet train will take 2 hours and 58 minutes to travel from Ahmedabad to Mumbai if it stops at all 12 stations. If it stops at four stations – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai – the bullet train will cover the distance in 2 hours and 7 minutes.
10. The Ministry of Railways plans to run 35 bullet trains once it starts operations. There will be around 70 trips every day. The number of bullet trains are expected to rise to 105 by 2050.
11. The Ministry of Railways said it will need around 825 hectares of land for the project since only 2% of the route will be on ground [ 92% of the route will be elevated and 6% will go through tunnels].
12. To begin with, the bullet train will come with 10 coaches that will have a seating capacity of 750 passengers. Later, the number of coaches will be increased to 16 with seating capacity of 1,250 passengers.
13. Though the fare of India’s first bullet train is yet to decided, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said it will be “affordable for all”. There will be executive and economy class fares, the prices of which will be comparable with the base AC 2-tier fare of the Rajdhani Express.
14. The Ministry of Railways is eyeing around 1.6 crore passengers yearly once the bullet train starts operations, and 1.6 lakh daily commuters by 2050.
Big Wire
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