NEW DELHI: If everything goes according to plan, the Ministry of Railways will move ahead with a proposal for the creation of four new high-speed rail corridors under the National Rail Plan in 2022 in order to link more cities like Guwahati, Jammu and Patna with other metros through high speed rail connectivity.
As of now, the railway ministry is already working on eight bullet train corridors, including the first between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
A railway source told The New Indian Express that the 618km-long Hyderabad - Bangalore, 855 km -long Nagpur - Varanasi, 850km long Patna-Guwahati and 190 km long Amritsar-Pathankot-Jammu high-speed rail corridors are likely to be proposed under the National Rail Plan in 2022. In fact, the railway ministry is mulling over connecting all major cities of the country with high speed rail connectivity.
Sources further said that the sanctioned and proposed high speed rail corridors will run along the expressways and National Highways with beautiful greenery on either side of the railway tracks.
Work on the country's first Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train corridor, covering a distance of 508.17-km to connect Mumbai with Ahmedabad, is in progress at the estimated cost of Rs. 1.1 lakh crore. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL) has prepared the DPR of the country's first bullet train project from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
The total number of high speed rail corridors will increase from 8 to 12 after a proposal for the four new corridors is moved in 2022.
Meanwhile, railway sources said that after the Mumbai - Ahmedabad high speed corridors, Detailed Project Report (DPRs) are being prepared on the approved Delhi - Varanasi, Delhi - Ahmedabad, Mumbai - Nagpur, Delhi - Amritsar, Mumbai - Hyderabad and Chennai - Mysore corridors.
India's high speed rail corridors:
1- Mumbai-Ahmedabad (country’s 1st under construction)
2- Delhi-Varanasi
3- Nagpur-Mumbai
4- Delhi-Ahmedabad
5- Delhi-Amritsar
6- Mumbai-Hyderabad
7- Varanasi-Howrah
8- Chennai-Mysore.
Four new ones likely to be proposed:
1- 618km-long Hyderabad - Bangalore,
2- 855 km -long Nagpur - Varanasi,
3- 850km long Patna-Guwahati
4- 190 km long Amritsar-Pathankot- Jammu