Indian Railways has tendered work for the first Bullet Train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai of 508 km and has now disclosed plans for having more such High Speed Rail Corridors (HSRC) in several routes across the country to connect prominent cities.
The draft National Rail Plan (NRP) released for public discussion shows Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru too figure in the proposed new HSRC, but they are in the second, third or fourth phase of the construction stretching up to 2051. Criteria should be having each city with a population of at least 10 lakh separated by a distance of 300-700 km, high levels of congestion, good passenger flow between city pairs through - AC rail and air trips and AC passenger share of more than 50%
If the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is expected to be ready by 2026, in the second phase targeted for 2031, the second one is between Delhi- Agra- Kanpur- Lucknow- Varanasi of 855 km- corridor via Ayodhya to tap the religious tourism potential.
It is to be followed by Varanasi- Patna of 250 km and onwards to Patna-Kolkata of 530 km and the Delhi-Udaipur-Ahmedabad link of 866 km. A total of 2521 km is being planned to be taken up during this period.
Hyderabad will get the HSRC in the third phase proposed to be built by 2041 when the 816 km link to Bengaluru is to be made. The Nagpur-Varanasi of 855 km is also slated to be taken up during this period in which altogether 1,473 km of bullet train line is to be built.
In the fourth phase to be built by 2051, Chennai too comes into play. The Chennai-Mysuru-Bengaluru link is to be established for 462 km. The Mumbai-Hyderabad link of 709 km, Mumbai-Nagpur of 789 km, Patna-Guwahati of 850 km via Katihar and New Jalpaiguri is to connect Guwahati with Delhi-Varanasi-Kolkata corridor, Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar of 485 km and Amritsar-Pathankot-Jammu of 190 km is being planned - means a total of 3,485 km of high speed corridors.
Hyderabad and Bengaluru HSRC will be connected to Mumbai-Hyderabad Line ensuring connect between Mumbai with Chennai. It will also bring North India from Jammu – Amritsar – Delhi – Jaipur – Ahmedabad – Mumbai – Hyderabad – Bengaluru – Chennai on the HSRC and all the major towns of north, west and south India connected with the first corridor to boost regional economy.
Nagpur and Varanasi are to be connected by extending Mumbai – Nashik – Nagpur corridor. This in turn will connect Mumbai with Varanasi which will further connect with Delhi – Varanasi – Patna – Guwahati corridors. NRP which envisages prospective capacity building and infrastructure development between 2030-2050 said HSRC should be taken up where there is “strong passenger demand for such high-speed services to minimize the investment risk”.
