Soon, you'd be able to travel from Delhi to Amritsar by train in just 2 hours
After India's first Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, Indian Railways is looking at other high-speed corridors across the country.
Adding to the list of latest trains with advanced technology is also a bullet train, set to be launched in a few years, between Delhi and Amritsar.
The train, to be launched by Indian Railways, will run between the two destinations via Chandigarh, at a speed of 300km/hr. The bullet train will reportedly cover the 458-km journey in just two hours and three minutes, thus reducing the train-travel time from Delhi to Amritsar to one-third of the current duration.
Besides Chandigarh, the train will also have stops at Panipat, Ambala and Ludhiana.
The feasibility study of the corridor has been done by France's Systra. "The feasibility study report of high-speed rail corridor between Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar had been submitted to the Ministry of Railways in 2016. The report has been accepted by the Ministry of Railways and is currently under consideration," an official was quoted as saying by Financial Express.
The base fare has been recommended at Rs 4.5 per km, as per the 2015 price level. If that is followed, then the price of travelling in the bullet train, from Delhi to Amritsar, will be a minimum of Rs 2061.
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According to reports shared with Financial Express Online, the total cost of the project has been estimated at Rs 61,412 cr, at the 2015 price level. And the project could take anywhere between six to eight years to be completed.
Besides the Delhi-Amritsar route, another bullet train is also in the pipeline, for travelling from Delhi to Varanasi. This train, likely to be launched by 2031, will reduce the train-travel time to just two hours and 37 minutes.
The Ministry of Railways has set up High Speed Rail Corporation of India (HSRC) to monitor the proposed high-speed rail corridors. Among these are Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Nagpur-Chennai, Mumbai-Nagpur and Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysore.