Indian Railways in plans to introduce 10 new bullet train routes

The Indian Railways is reportedly working on an extensive expansion plan of the bullet train projects in India. Reports suggest that 10 new corridors are being considered for high-speed rail projects India.

Besides, more than doubling the freight capacity, the Indian Railways is reportedly considering for high-speed rail projects in India for 10 new corridors of about 6,000 km length. Currently, the Indian Railways has reportedly sent a proposal to the Central Cabinet for the same. The proposal sent carries a feasibility study for 10 potential bullet train corridors, including the approval for preparation of a detailed project. 

The 10-new proposed corridors for high-speed rail projects include Delhi-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Corridor, Delhi-Kolkata High-Speed Rail Corridor, Delhi-Amritsar High-Speed Rail Corridor, Delhi-Varanasi High-Speed Rail Corridor, Delhi-Bhopal High-Speed Rail Corridor, Delhi-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, Nagpur-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Corridor, Patna-Kolkata High-Speed Rail Corridor, Chennai-Bengaluru High-Speed Rail Corridor and Chennai Mysore High-Speed Rail Corridor. 

The implementation of these projects is expected to take about 10 years, with an investment of Rs 10 trillion. However, at present only one high-speed rail corridor is being run on Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

The focus of the railways is on connecting 17,000 km-long network to the existing 1.2 lakh km-long rail network, which will reportedly invest more than Rs 5 trillion. Reports suggest on the possibility of a plan to triple the railway track parallel to the Golden Quadrilateral so that traffic can be reduced on the roads. 

That said, three new freight corridors have been reportedly discussed on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai and Amritsar-Kolkata DFC. Also, proposals have been mentioned in the proposal for funding from these multilateral agencies like World Bank, GICA and Asian Development Bank.