Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train to be fully operational by 2023: Lohani
14 Apr 2018
The Ahmedabad-Mumbai high-speed bullet train project being implemented by the Indian Railways with technical help from Japan will be fully operational by 2023, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said on Friday.
Lohani said some sections of the high-speed, 500-km route will be operational in 2022 itself.
"Bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will be made fully operational by 2023, while it will be made operational on some sections in 2022. We are moving ahead as per our plan on the project," Lohani told reporters in Patna.
Lohani, who is in Patna to take part in the 63rd Regional Railway Week, was accompanied by East Central Railway (ECR) general manager L C Trivedi and other senior officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe launched the Rs1,10,000 crore project in September last year
Japan is extending a loan of Rs88,000 crore for the project at a minimal interest of 0.1 per cent.
The bullet train will run at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, covering the 500-km stretch in under three hours against the seven hours at present.
The train will halt at 12 stations, including four in Maharashtra.
"We have got the Japanese technology on which bullet train is being run since 1965 in Japan and no accidents have taken place since then," he said.
On the issue of cost involved in the project, he said "there will not be any financial burden on us as it is a very soft funding."