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PM approves 1,500 km Delhi-Guwahati bullet train corridor via Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Siliguri; under 8 hrs
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in Varanasi on 31 October that PM Modi has approved the Northern Bullet Train Corridor from Delhi to Guwahati via Siliguri, about 1,500 km with ten stops. Delhi-Siliguri would take about six hours, Delhi-Guwahati under eight. Cost, schedule not announced.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Northern Bullet Train Corridor, a high-speed rail line of about 1,500 km between Delhi and Guwahati via Siliguri. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced it in Varanasi on 31 October while flagging off the Varanasi to New Delhi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express. It is an approval of the proposal, and no construction start has been announced.
The line is expected to have ten stops: Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna, Siliguri and Guwahati. It runs through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal before reaching Assam. It was first planned to end at Siliguri, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asked for it to be extended to Guwahati in a written request and a July meeting with Vaishnaw. He thanked Modi and Vaishnaw on X, saying better connectivity could help Assam attract high-tech industries and create employment.
Vaishnaw said the Delhi to Siliguri journey, which takes about 20 hours now, would come down to about six hours. For Delhi to Guwahati the target is under eight hours, compared with about 27 hours 55 minutes on the Dibrugarh to New Delhi Rajdhani Express. The estimated times from Delhi are 59 minutes to Agra, about one hour 45 minutes to Kanpur, about two hours 12 minutes to Lucknow and about three and a half hours to Varanasi.
Vaishnaw said fares would be highly economical and well below airfares, so that middle-class passengers can use the service, but ticket prices have not been announced. He said the corridor could support small-scale industries, local manufacturers, artisans and youth employment, and that it would be built under the Make in India initiative with domestic engineers, workers and manufacturers. It is part of an effort to expand high-speed rail beyond the Mumbai to Ahmedabad corridor.
The reports do not give the project's cost, the train speed, a construction schedule or an operating deadline. Station locations and land acquisition have not been detailed, and the length and travel time of the Siliguri to Guwahati stretch have not been given.
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