Indian first ‘Bullet Train’ project launched. Know some highlights of high speed projects of country.

The foundation stone of ‘Bullet Train’ project in India has been laid off by PM Narendra Modi & his Japanese counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe. With the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train dream to be true soon, the project will ease travel between two cities and expected to have some more economical effect. The 508 kilometre high speed rail link will be a demonstrative move of India’s capabilities to build high-tech projects. As the project kick-started, here we know some interesting facts related to country’s maiden high speed rail project.

• The cost of the project will be Rs. 1.10 Lac crore out of which Japan has agreed to provide Rs 88,000 crore at an interest rate of 0.1 percent to help India set up the bullet train. The tenure to repay the loan will be fifty years.
• The bullet train project will provide thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities. Government, stakeholders & construction companies will require engineers, technicians & other manpower to get the project completed.
• The bullet train project is a joint venture between the Indian Railways and Japanese firm Shinkansen Technology. The Japanese team estimated that the first train would roll out by 2023, but Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said PM Modi wants the train to start on 15 August 2022 – when India completes 75 years of Independence.
• While Japan will be providing the technology, the bullet train will be assembled in India.
• According to Japanese PM, he would like have a travel of bullet train to enjoy the beauty of India through the windows of the Bullet Train when he comes to India in a few years.
• The bullet train will run at an average speed of 320 km per hour with a maximum speed of 350 km per hour.
• Initially, the train will have 10 coaches with a total seating capacity of 750 passengers. In the future, it is proposed to have 16 coaches with a seating capacity of 1,250 passengers.
• The railways will only require around 825 hectares of land for the project as 92 percent of the route will be elevated, six percent will go through tunnels and only the remaining two percent will be on the ground.
• The high speed train will also pass through the country’s biggest tunnel of 21 km, of which seven km will be under the sea.
• Japan was also ready to transfer the technology to India and sponsoring the project.
• On the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, total 12 stations have been proposed that include Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.
• The distance of 508 km will be covered in two hours and seven minutes by the bullet train if it stops at four stations namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai.
• A greater stretch of this link, 351 km, will run through Gujarat and 156 km through Maharashtra.
• Newly-appointed Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has assured that the fare of the high-speed bullet train would be “affordable for all”.
• In a day, the high-speed train will make 70 Ahmedabad-Mumbai sorties.
• The Maharashtra government is still undecided on where the bullet train will end in Mumbai. The state government this week agreed to spare 9,000 sq metres plot for the station at the Bandra-Kurla Complex on the condition that the railways assess suitability of an alternative site.
• Rail minister Mr Piyush Goyal said that government will not wait for Ahmedabad-Mumbai project to complete to start new high speed rail corridors. After finding feasibilities, new bullet train rail links will be launched to provide faster connectivity between all major cities.