India’s high-speed rail ambitions extend well beyond its first bullet train project currently under construction. While progress on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor has been gradual, the government has already identified seven additional high-speed rail routes as part of its long-term vision. These proposed corridors aim to connect major cities, including Delhi, Varanasi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai, paving the way for a broader national bullet train network.
The new routes proposed by the government are: Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri. These routes aim to connect some of India’s biggest economic, industrial, technology and tourism hubs.
Although no construction timelines have been announced yet, each corridor will undergo feasibility studies, approvals, funding arrangements and land acquisition before work begins, a report said.
Apart from the Mumbai–Ahmedabad route (1 hour 57 minutes), the government announced travel times of 48 minutes between Mumbai and Pune, 73 minutes between Bengaluru and Chennai, 2 hours 10 minutes between Bengaluru and Hyderabad, 2 hours 8 minutes between Pune and Hyderabad, 2 hours between Delhi and Lucknow, 3 hours 15 minutes between Delhi and Varanasi, and 6 hours between Delhi and Siliguri.
