For the past decade, there has been much discussion about bullet trains and Vande Bharat trains in Indian Railways. While the dream of Vande Bharat trains has already come true, it's now time for the bullet train to take centre stage. Indian Railways is preparing to launch its own indigenous bullet train, which is expected to run at the speed of up to 250 kilometres per hour.
According to reports, Indian Railways has tasked the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) with constructing two standard gauge bullet trains within the current financial year. This marks the first time that trains capable of reaching 250 kilometres per hour will be manufactured in India. These bullet trains will be operated on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.
The report claims that these trains are likely to be built on the Vande Bharat platform.
To assist in the construction of the Vande Bharat bullet trains, Indian Railways is in discussions with Japanese rolling stock suppliers, Hitachi and Kawasaki. In 2018, the cost to build a 10-coach bullet train was Rs 389 crore, but by 2023, this cost had increased to Rs 460 crore.
The bullet train project in India has faced delays. Initially, the project was slated for completion by 2022, but land acquisition issues in Maharashtra caused setbacks.
