Ashwini Vaishnaw shares timetable of India’s first bullet train, Mumbai-Ahmedabad section to start in 2027 | Today’s news
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday announced that the first bullet train is now under construction between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. He said the first part of the bullet train will be launched next year. “And the progress is huge,” he said.
Vaishnaw said, “Next year, we will start the first section of the bullet train on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section between Surat and Bilimore. Then, section by section, immediately after that we will go from Vapi to Surat, then we will go from Vapi to Ahmedabad, then from Ahmedabad to Thane and then to Mumbahmeda.”
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“This is a phased, piecemeal opening that will start from next year,” the minister said while addressing the HYSEA GCCS & IT Round Table at the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre.
The Ministry of Railways released a video of Vaishnaw’s statement and captioned it with a quote from the minister. It read: “India’s First Bullet Train Enters Next Chapter.”
Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement came when he visited the Medha Bogies factory at Kondakal in Hyderabad along with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Saturday.
“Hyderabad to become high-speed hub”
Ashwini Vaishnaw also said that Hyderabad is to become a “high-speed hub” with the introduction of three major bullet train corridors.
The minister said massive ₹5,400 crore railway budget allocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bringing a revolutionary change to Telangana.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given Hyderabad three high-speed bullet train corridors that will transform its landscape,” Vaishnaw said while addressing the HYSEA GCCS & IT Round Table.
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“From Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Chennai and Hyderabad to Bengaluru – this will be a big change for the entire region. Hyderabad will become a high-speed hub. It will bring tremendous development and the economies of this entire region will be fully integrated,” the minister said.
A significant reduction in travel time
Ashwini Vaishnav said the first project from Pune and Hyderabad will reduce travel time to two hours; the journey from Hyderabad to Mumbai will be 2 hours 50 minutes; from Hyderabad to Amravati, the journey will take 1 hour and 10 minutes; It will be 3 hours from Hyderabad to Chennai; and Hyderabad to Bengaluru will be 2 hours 35 minutes.
“So in this way, Hyderabad will have the three bullet train corridors given by PM Modi,” he said, adding that “this will be a huge benefit to Telangana.”
“This will transform the state and large parts of Telangana will be covered by the bullet train project… the three directions in which the bullet trains will run, all these three directions will cover many districts of Telangana,” he said.
Highlighting the growth in the technology sector, Vaishnaw added that Telangana is a major beneficiary of the Centre’s electronics manufacturing programmes.
“More than a hundred electronics manufacturing companies have been supported under the Government of India’s electronics manufacturing schemes, where Telangana has benefited greatly. ₹Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives Telangana a budget of 5,400 crores. There is a huge change due to this,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw.
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During the round table, the minister also gave an update on the ongoing ‘Nav-Nirmaan’ (renovation) of railway stations across India and said that 261 stations have already been completed at an “unprecedented pace”.
Vaishnaw highlighted the scale of transformation in Telangana, specifically mentioning the work at Secunderabad, Begumpet and HITEC City stations. Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy and BJP state president N Ramchander Rao were also present at the event.
