BENGALURU: A tweet by Vijeta Ananthkumar, daughter of the late Union Minister Ananth Kumar appealing to the Railway Minister to run a high-speed rail between Bengaluru and Mumbai set off a debate online. SWR said the time taken by the existing train could be speedened up but a specific hi-speed train was not in the pipeline.
Vijeta, an environmentalist, tweeted: “Mumbai-Delhi distance is 1377 km and the fastest train takes about 17 hours. Mumbai-Bengaluru distance is 1120 km and the fastest train takes about 24 hours. @AshwiniVaishnav avare we need a high-speed train between these two mega cities @RailMinIndia.”
It set off a discussion online with a few backing her suggestion while some detailed the infrastructure constraints. Sanjay Murthy tweeted: “The private bus operators lobby wouldn’t allow that to happen. Fast rail network between these two cities is long pending.”
A senior railway official of SWR ruled out any high-speed corridor between Bengaluru and Mumbai. “In the recent proposal for nine high speed corridors there one proposed from Chennai to Mysuru via Bengaluru. However, there is a need to reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mumbai from 24 hours and this would be possible only if electrification and doubling is done throughout the route,” she said.
In the SWR section, there needs to be electrification and doubling done between Bengaluru and Dhamavaram, the official said. "Other Railways too have similar constraints," she said.
Rail activist S Yogendra said, "We have been tweeting about the issue for nearly three years now. The present available train, Udyan Express, runs like a passenger train and takes 24 hours. Bearing in mind the upcoming inauguration of Sir M Visvesvariah Terminal, the Bengaluru Railway Divison should gift a much required Mumbai train to the city. A dedicated superfast train is definitely needed between Bengaluru and the financial capital of Mumbai which will cover the distance of 1134 km within 19 or 20 hours."