India-made Bullet Train body frame ready, track test in May 2027: Railways Minister
In the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 'NAMO for Viksit Bharat' event in Vadodara, Vaishnaw said the development marked a significant step towards building high-speed trains in India.
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced that the body frame of India’s first domestically manufactured bullet train is ready, and the train is expected to hit the tracks for testing in May 2027.
Vaishnaw made the remarks at the ‘NaMo for Viksit Bharat’ event in Vadodara, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stones for, inaugurated and dedicated to the nation development projects worth more than Rs 35,000 crore.
The projects include three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC), railway and highway projects, as well as projects of the Gujarat government.
In his address, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the body frame of the indigenous bullet train was completed “just the day before yesterday” and sent for a squeeze test.
“By May or June of next year, India’s own bullet train will be on the tracks for testing. After a testing period of two to four months, the bullet train will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that passengers travelling from Vadodara to Mumbai by bullet train would be able to cover the distance in around an hour and a half.
Speaking on the Dedicated Freight Corridor from Dadri to JNPT, he said that the idea for the corridor was conceived alongside the Golden Quadrilateral highway project during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said subsequent Congress governments did not pay attention to the freight corridor project.
“When our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, took charge of the country in 2014, not even a single kilometre of work on the Freight Corridor had been completed. After he came to power, he resolved each and every problem.
“Whether it was the problem of funds, design issues, or difficulties related to land acquisition, all of these were addressed and resolved,” Vaishnaw said.
The Union Railways Minister's announcement comes nearly two months after he had said that work on India’s first bullet train project was progressing rapidly, with the first operational section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat expected to begin service next year.
He had said the remaining sections of the corridor would be commissioned in phases, with the entire project aimed at significantly reducing travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.