India Starts Building Its Own High-Speed Bullet Trains

According to the latest reports, India is currently constructing its inaugural high-speed bullet trains that have the capacity to surpass speeds of 250 kilometers per hour (155.3 mph). These new trains will be developed using the same framework as India’s domestically engineered ‘Vande Bharat’ trains, that are capable of reaching speeds of up to 180 kmph. The blueprint for the new bullet train initiative is being meticulously prepared at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Indian Railways, located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu is currently working on design of the new bullet train prototype.

Recent reports by local media stated that India is on the verge of finalizing an agreement with Japan for the acquisition of 24 E5 series Shinkansen high-speed trains, manufactured by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. These cutting-edge trains are expected to operate on India’s inaugural high-speed rail route, spanning 508 kilometers (315.6 miles) and linking Ahmedabad in Gujarat with Mumbai, the country’s financial center in Maharashtra. By introducing the bullet train, the travel between these two significant economic hubs will be a mere two hours, a remarkable improvement compared to the current travel time of over eight hours.

New project takes off amidst New Delhi’s heightened focus on implementing high-speed trains within India. Railways serve as a main mean of transportation in India, with the country running an average of 12,000 trains per day, facilitating the movement of around 24 million passengers.

According to Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, the completion of the project is expected within the next two years, with a significant portion already finished. In their manifesto for the upcoming general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pledged to develop additional bullet train corridors if they secure a third term. Leveraging the knowledge acquired from constructing the initial corridor, the party intends to undertake “feasibility studies” for additional corridors in northern, southern, and eastern India.

The semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express, which was launched in 2019, is considered a significant advancement for the Indian Railways in terms of speed. Currently, there are approximately 100 of these trains in operation, and the government under Modi’s leadership aims to introduce a minimum of 400 additional Vande Bharat trains in the coming years.