India’s first bullet train run likely in June-July 2026: Report

The Indian Railways is ‘confident’ that the country’s first bullet train will commence operation in June-July 2026 in Gujarat, as India will seal the deal to procure the first six Shinkansen (bullet) trains from Japan by the end of the month, the Times of India has reported.

Also, as per the report, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) will bid out all contracts, including the one on the procurement of trains and operating system, by August 15 this year.

India’s first bullet train project will connect the cities of Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and construction work is currently underway.

‘More progress in Gujarat than Maharashtra’

Till January 2024, the project’s overall physical progress stood at around 40%, officials said, adding that the progress is more in Gujarat (48.3%) than in Maharashtra (22.5%).

“There is a remarkable progress in Maharashtra in recent months. The state administration has directed all district collectors to complete the handover of the land by this month end. We are working hard to see how we can push the physical progress to compensate for the time we lost because of the earlier Maharashtra government,” a railway ministry official told the newspaper.

‘Limited-stop’ and ‘all-stop’ services

The 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor will have services that will both halt only at a limited number of stations, and at all stops. While the limited-stop services will complete the journey in just two hours, the all-stop counterparts will take forty-five additional minutes to reach their destination.

Additionally, over the past year, more than 100 km of the viaduct (elevated stretch) has been completed in the corridor, and six river bridges have been built. The route’s Gujarat portion has 20 bridges, of which as many as seven have been constructed.