Vadodara, Sept. 8 -- India's first indigenous bullet train is expected to begin trial runs in May or June 2027, with commercial operations likely to start two to four months after testing, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday. Speaking at the 'NaMo for Viksit Bharat' event in Vadodara, Vaishnaw said the first body frame of the high-speed train had been completed and sent for a squeeze test to assess its structural strength. The trials will be conducted on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, marking a major step towards bringing India's first bullet train into service.
"By May or June of next year, India's own bullet train will be on the tracks for testing. After a testing period of 2-4 months, the bullet train will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself," Vaishnaw said.
The minister said the project was being developed as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, with the indigenous train expected to significantly reduce travel time. A journey from Vadodara to Mumbai will take about one and a half hours, he said.
Construction on the corridor is progressing in stages. Vaishnaw said the Surat-Vapi section is expected to be completed by December 2026. The service is planned to open in phases, beginning with the Surat-Bilimora section, followed by the Vapi-Surat stretch. The Vapi-Ahmedabad section is planned as the third phase, while the Ahmedabad-Thane section will be commissioned later. The Mumbai leg will follow the completion of the Thane stretch, allowing the full Ahmedabad-Mumbai service to operate.
Vaishnaw also outlined wider changes underway in Indian Railways, saying the government was modernising operational systems, reservation facilities and construction practices. "We are reforming and modernising everything, from operating systems and reservation systems to old construction protocols," he said.
The railway modernisation programme also includes new freight wagon designs, including a specialised wagon for transporting salt, and cargo trains incorporating Vande Bharat technology.
The minister cited several infrastructure projects completed in recent years, including the Chenab Bridge and the railway connection to Mizoram. He said 280 railway stations had been redeveloped, while 36,000 km of new railway tracks had been developed across the country.
Vaishnaw said the pace of railway infrastructure work had increased despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. He noted that the first section of the high-speed rail project was completed in 2020, after which work on subsequent sections accelerated.
Beyond the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, the government has proposed seven more high-speed rail corridors: Delhi-Varanasi, Varanasi-Patna-Siliguri, Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Bengaluru-Chennai, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Chennai-Hyderabad.
"The modern face of Indian Railways that is emerging will benefit many future generations," Vaishnaw said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.