NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is learnt to have decided to go for the E5 series of trains for the country’s first bullet train services from 2026. The plan is to purchase at least 18 E5 series Shinkansen bullet trains at an estimated cost of Rs 7,000 crore. Japan has reportedly agreed to share technology, as part of a deal.
The E5 series trains are built with the Japanese Shinkansen technology, which has the distinction of having the highest level of accuracy in ensuring safety in the segment. The bullet train of this technology suits India’s topography and climate. It has seen no accidents due to technological failure so far.
Bullet trains built with the same technology will be used on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor. Besides the most advanced crash avoidance system, the E5 series will have an automatic brake application in case of over-speeding.
The rakes of bullet trains with this technology will be initially brought from Japan. A deal has been finalised with a Japanese company concerned in this regard, according to sources.
Recently, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the media that works on the bullet train project were progressing, and by 2026, the first bullet train would be running between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Sharing details, he said pillars covering 251.40 km were erected while elevated superstructures were laid over a distance of 103.24 km as of November 21 this year. E-bids have been invited to engage consultants for the ticketing system.
A senior railway official said that India will have its bullet train built on Japanese technology. Sources said nearly 92 per cent of the high-speed railway track will be elevated through viaducts and bridges out of a total 503.09 km of distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
“The bullet train will run over a viaduct covering a distance of 460.3 km out of 508.09 km, while there will be tunnels on 25.87 km, including a 7 km long undersea tunnel and 12.9 km embankment. Be it known that the light detection and ranging is being adopted for the first time in a railway project in India, primarily because of its high accuracy in services,” said a railway source, adding that the technology runs with a combination of laser data, GPS data, and flight parameters to give accurate data.