The project, which is mostly funded by a US$17bn loan from Japan, will linl Aamru in Ahmedabad and Aamchi in Mumbai. It is expected to cut the 500km journey time down to three hours from the current eight. There will be 12 stations on the route, the majority of which will be elevated. A part will run through a 7km-long undersea tunnel.
The service will use Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail technology, enabling the 750-seat trains to have top speeds of up to 350 km/h.
India’s Narendra Modi and Japan’s Shinzo Abe took part in a ceremony in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to launch the project. Abe said that he is grateful that Japan has the opportunity to build the first bullet train in India.
Modi said: “We want that common man of our country gets to use high-end technology.”
The bullet train is due to come into service on its dedicated track by 2023. ե֭ of the high-speed train corridor is expected to create 4,000 direct jobs and at least 20,000 indirect jobs.
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