Constructing 15 kilometres of bullet train track each month: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India is standardising bullet train systems for all upcoming projects and is currently building 15 kilometres (kms) of high-speed track every month, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday.

“The speed of construction has improved significantly thanks to our own engineering capabilities and the adoption of advanced technologies,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a press briefing following the Union Cabinet meeting. He noted that similar high-speed rail projects globally have progressed at only about 0.5 kms per month.

“We now have the expertise to construct a 120-foot bridge in just 16 hours,” the minister said, adding that India’s first bullet train project is set to be inaugurated in August next year. Construction began on August 11, 2021. Vaishnaw said India is also standardising bullet train components for future corridors to promote local production of critical equipment. An initial 97-km stretch between Surat and Vapi in Gujarat is expected to become operational next year. This will mark the first phase of the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, designed for speeds of up to 320 km/h.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, launched in 2016, has faced delays mainly due to land acquisition challenges in Maharashtra. As a result, the project cost has climbed to nearly Rs 1.98 lakh crore, almost double the original estimate of Rs 1.08 lakh crore. “Two and a half years were lost due to Uddhav Thackeray’s (then Chief Minister) hesitation and land acquisition problems in Maharashtra,” Vaishnaw said, adding that the Centre is adopting a cautious and strategic approach for future corridors aimed at drastically cutting travel times between major cities. “We have established the world’s largest geotechnical laboratory in Gujarat to examine soil samples for the bullet train project,” he added.

In the 2026–27 Budget, the government announced plans for seven new bullet train corridors: Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri. According to the Railway Board, these seven high-speed corridors will span nearly 4,000 kilometres and are projected to attract investments worth around Rs 16 lakh crore.