Two more bullet train projects on the cards for 2022-23

As many as two bullet train projects are under consideration by the government, which are likely to come up in 2022-23.

Officials said that Budget 2022-23 might announce a New Delhi-Varanasi high-speed rail corridor, along with a Mumbai-Nagpur corridor, depending on the Ministry of Railway receiving clarity on funding the project.

The railway department has received a detailed project report (DPR) of the New Delhi-Varanasi high-speed rail corridor from the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).

According to the spokesperson of NHSRCL, the DPR of the Mumbai-Nagpur corridor is in its final stage of completion and will be submitted to the Ministry of Railway by the first quarter (Q1) of FY23. DPR for five more bullet train projects are ongoing, and NHSRCL is expected to complete them by FY23.

The Delhi-Varanasi corridor will cost nearly Rs 1.5 trillion, while the Mumbai-Nagpur project will be slightly less.

The DPR of the Delhi-Varanasi corridor has multiple studies, which the corporation conducted based on expected ridership, impact on adjoining villages, land requirement, social impact and environmental impact.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor of over 500 km section will require an investment of over Rs 1 trillion, using Japanese E5 Shinkansen technology. The train will cover a distance of 300 km per hour.

A trial run of 50 km will be conducted in 2026 from Surat to Vilimura. Till now, the investment on this project is Rs 39,000 crore.

In 2020, the Ministry of Railway sanctioned feasibility studies for seven bullet train projects, in addition to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor.

The national transporter has invited private players to run trains on the Indian Railways network.

The Indian Railways has identified 12 clusters, with over 100 routes and 150 private trains.

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