Ground TransportationJapanese loan puts high-speed rail on the agenda

India’s first bullet train on track for 2022

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India launches a timetable for the introduction of high-speed rail
India launches a timetable for the introduction of high-speed rail Photo Credit: iStock

Mostly funded by a US$17 billion loan from Japan, the bullet train will run between Ahmedabad city and Mumbai. It is expected to cut the 500-kilometre journey time to three hours from the current eight.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is this week laying the foundation stone for India's first high-speed train in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's native state of Gujarat.

Mostly funded by a US$17 billion loan from Japan, the bullet train will run between Ahmedabad city and Mumbai. It is expected to cut the 500-kilometre journey time to three hours from the current eight. 

The 750-seat train is scheduled to launch operations in 2022.

India's railway system carries more than 22 million passengers a day and much of the equipment is out of date, leading to frequent accidents and chronic delays, the BBC reports.

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