Bhavnagar, 3 Aug

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said India's first bullet train service will commence very soon, and it will cut the travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to two hours and seven minutes.

The Union minister was at Bhavnagar terminus from where he virtually flagged off the Ayodhya Express, Rewa-Pune Express, and Jabalpur-Raipur Express. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Chief Ministers Mohan Yadav and Vishnu Deo Sai also joined the event.

"The first bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will start very soon, and the work on the project is going on at a fast pace. When it starts running, the journey from Mumbai to Ahmedabad will take only two hours and seven minutes," Vaishnaw said.

India's first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will span 508 kilometres. It will start from the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) area in Mumbai, and connect to Gujarat's Vapi, Surat, Anand, Vadodara and Ahmedabad, running at a high speed of 320 km per hour.

Addressing a gathering here, the Union minister also gave details of the upcoming railway projects in Gujarat, including a new train between Porbandar and Rajkot, a Rs 135-crore coach maintenance facility at Ranavav station, a railway flyover in Porbandar city, two Gati Shakti cargo terminals, and a container terminal at an upcoming port in Bhavnagar.

Several new projects have also been undertaken in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, with the double-engine governments in the two states making projects progress rapidly.

Vaishnaw claimed that in 11 years of the Narendra Modi government,34,000 km of new railway tracks have been laid, with almost 12 km of new tracks built in the country daily.

He said 1,300 railway stations are being redeveloped in the country, which is something that has never been done before.

"No one has undertaken such a big work to date. When railway stations are renovated in developed countries, they are done systematically by closing down all stations and trains," Vaishnaw said.

"There is a huge population here, and everyone's expectation is that work should progress, trains should run, and the station should also be redeveloped. Taking all these challenges into account, Modiji has a big vision today regarding the renovation of these stations," he said.

The Union minister further spoke about trains introduced by the Modi government — Vande Bharat Express, Amrit Bharat Express, and Namo Bharat Express.

"Eight Amrit Bharat trains have been launched so far. They have features like Vande Bharat trains, but the fare is low. These trains have been constructed using new-age technology, and you will be surprised to hear the emotions expressed by passengers using these trains," he said.

Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Nimuben Bambhaniya were also present on the occasion.