India, Sept. 21 -- A portion of the bullet train route, from Surat to Thane, is set to be operational by 2028, with the entire corridor from BKC to Ahmedabad to be ready by 2029, said railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Saturday.

Vaishnav, visiting Ghansoli to oversee the tunnel construction, said that the bullet train will be a "transport for the middle class" and while the fares are yet to be determined, he assured that they would "be reasonable". He added that while the Mumbai-Ahmedabad is a nine hour journey as per google maps, the bullet train will be able to cover the distance in around two hours seven minutes.

The railway minister said, "The timetable of these high speed trains will be designed in a way that people can board a t...