JAPAN FUNDS INDIA’S FIRST BULLET TRAIN

Construction work on India’s first bullet train was recently launched by India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, also in attendance during the ceremony was his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

The line which will run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, will cost about 1.08-trillion-rupee (US$17 billion) and Japan has agreed to fund 81% of the project, through a 50-year loan at 0.1% annual interest.

The train which will cover 508km stretch will run at a top speed of 350km/h reducing the current journey time from 8 hours to 2 hours.

825 hectares have been estimated as land-space needed for the project, the route for the train will have 92% of it been elevated while 6% will go through tunnels, and only 2% would be on the ground.

En route, the railway will have 12 stops, and a  21-km-long tunnel will be built between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, of which 7km will be under water.

At first the train will have 10 coaches with a seating capacity of 750 passengers but capacity is expected to expand to 16 coaches with a seating capacity of 1,250 passengers.

The railway is expected to be fully operational by August 2022, in time for the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.