- Delhi-NCR to become India's major high-speed rail network hub.
- Four new bullet train corridors planned, connecting eight states.
- Delhi-Varanasi-Siliguri corridor will be India's longest high-speed route.
As work on India's first Bullet Train corridor is 80 per cent complete, the Central government is now planning to introduce the high-speed train in Delhi as well. The plan is to upgrade the Delhi-NCR region as a major hub of India's high-speed rail network with four corridors.
Among them, the Delhi-Varanasi-Siliguri corridor is the most important. The route is one of the seven high-speed rail corridors announced by the central government during the Budget.
These corridors are expected to attract an investment of around Rs 2 lakh crore.
Delhi-Lucknow-Varanasi Corridor
It is expected to be approximately 813-865 kilometres long and will likely have 13 to 15 stations.
The bullet trains will run at speeds of up to 320 kilometres per hour, reducing the travel time between Delhi and Lucknow to about 2 hours 10 minutes and from Delhi to Varanasi to about 3 hours 50 minutes.
A tender for civil structure design work for the project has already been issued by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).
It will pass through Noida, Jewar International Airport, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Prayagraj, New Bhadohi, and Varanasi.
The Indian Railways has also planned a separate 124-135-kilometer high-speed link to connect Lucknow and Ayodhya.
Delhi-Varanasi-Siliguri Corridor
The Delhi-Varanasi-Siliguri high-speed train will become India's longest high-speed rail corridor. According to reports, the Delhi-Varanasi line will be extended to Siliguri, directly connecting northern India with eastern India and the Northeast.
The corridor is also proposed to be extended to Guwahati in Assam. After Varanasi, the corridor will pass through Buxar, Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Katihar, and New Jalpaiguri (Siliguri).
The corridor is expected to be around 1,705 km long and could reduce the travel time between Delhi and Siliguri from around 20 hours to around 6 hours.
Delhi-Jaipur-Udaipur-Ahmedabad Corridor
The Railways has also planned to connect Delhi to Rajasthan and Gujarat via Jaipur, Udaipur, and Ahmedabad.
The corridor can further be connected to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, allowing uninterrupted high-speed travel from Delhi to Mumbai.
The stations likely to be included on this corridor are Dwarka, Bijwasan, Gurugram, Manesar, Rewari, Behror (Neemrana), Shahpura, Jaipur, Kishangarh (Ajmer), Vijay Nagar, Bhilwara, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Himmatnagar and Sabarmati (Ahmedabad).
The corridor will be approximately 886 kilometres long and will have 14-15 stations. It will connect the capitals of Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
The detailed project report (DPR) of the corridor has been prepared, and the final financial approval from the Centre and the concerned state governments is awaited.
Delhi-Amritsar Corridor
Passing through Rohtak, Jind, Kaithal, Chandigarh, Mohali, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, the Delhi-Amritsar corridor may be extended from Jalandhar to Jammu and Katra via Pathankot, providing high-speed connectivity to the Vaishno Devi shrine.
The proposed Delhi-Amritsar corridor will be approximately 450-500 kilometres long and will have 10-12 stations. With the completion of this corridor, travel time between Delhi and Amritsar will be reduced to approximately two hours. The project is currently in the preliminary survey and route alignment stages.