India’s first bullet train route, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, will soon begin operations. The high-speed rail corridor is being constructed by the Railways with technology and financial support from a major Japanese company.
In the next phase, the Railways is planning to develop additional high-speed rail corridors across the country, including Hyderabad–Mumbai, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, and Hyderabad–Chennai bullet train routes. The Hyderabad–Chennai and Hyderabad–Bengaluru corridors are expected to be constructed using a combination of elevated and underground tracks. As part of this project, discussions are also underway to establish a bullet train service within Hyderabad.
If everything proceeds smoothly and the Central Government gives the green light for this train route, travel times from Hyderabad to Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru could be drastically reduced.
The distance between Hyderabad and Bengaluru is 618 kilometres. Currently, traveling by a regular superfast express train takes around 11 hours, while via the Vande Bharat Express it takes about 8.5 hours. Once the bullet train becomes operational, officials say the journey from Hyderabad to Bengaluru could take just 2 to 3 hours.
The Railways has decided to construct a 709-kilometer high-speed corridor between Hyderabad and Mumbai. They are also planning to extend this bullet train corridor to Bengaluru as well as to Mysuru and Chennai. If implemented as planned, travel distances and times between Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru will be significantly reduced.