Bullet Trains Will Be ‘Affordable To All’ Says Piyush Goyal

Union Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal has said that the fare of the upcoming High-Speed Rail – the Bullet Train – will be “affordable to all”. The foundation stone for the Rs 97,000 crore project is set to be laid on 14 September – when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to visit India.

Officials have stated that while fares are nowhere close to being finalised, there would be two classes – economy and executive and the fare would be comparable to the base fares of the two-tier air-conditioned Rajdhani Express.

Around 1.6 crore people per annum are expected to use about 35 trains in the initial years with 1.6 lakh passengers set to use 105 services on a daily basis by 2053.

At 500 km, the maiden line, connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad will have 10 stations – Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand and Sabarmati. Officials say that the journey with 10 halts would take two hours and 58 minutes while a journey with halts only at Surat and Vadodara will take two hours.

The average speed of the trains would be 320 kilometres (km) per hour while its maximum speed would be 350 km per hour. After plying for 20 hours, it would require four hours to be cleaned, according to officials.

Around 825 hectares of land will be required since 92 per cent of the route will be elevated, six per cent will consist of tunnels and only two per cent will run at grade. Each train will initially consist of 10 coaches, accommodating 750 passengers, which is set to be increased to 16 coaches accommodating 1,250 passengers at a later stage.

Also Read: What The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Means For The Region