NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream project of connecting major metros and growth centres in the country through a Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High-speed Rail got a fillip on Tuesday with Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda allocating Rs 100 crore for the same. The minister also said the country would soon run bullet train in many sectors. Presenting the Rail Budget in Parliament, he said his ministry had already completed a feasibility study on the identified Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector and another was awaited by next month. “We propose bullet trains by starting off with the Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector, where a number of studies have been done,” Gowda said.
Giving credit to former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee for the Golden Quadrilateral Road Network, he said under the leadership of Modi the country would have a Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High-speed Rail. Besides, the Railways is also making an effort to increase the speed of trains to 160-200 kmph in select sectors to significantly reduce travel time between major cities.
The Railways has already held trial runs of trains at 160 kmph on Delhi-Agra route.