PM Modi approves North Corridor bullet train project
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the new corridor will connect Delhi to Siliguri and extend to Guwahati.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the North Corridor of the bullet train project. The corridor will connect Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna and Siliguri, with the route extending to Guwahati.
Speaking before flagging off new Vande Bharat Sleeper Express services between Varanasi and New Delhi, Vaishnaw said the project would be built under the Make in India initiative. He stated the construction is progressing rapidly and will be fully built by Indian youth and welders.
The project is expected to reduce travel times. The journey between Delhi and Varanasi is expected to take three hours and 35 minutes, while the Lucknow-Varanasi journey is expected to take one hour and 21 minutes.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said an action plan has been prepared to operate a bullet train between Delhi and Varanasi to reduce travel time to three-and-a-half hours.
Vaishnaw also noted that the railway budget allocation for Uttar Pradesh has increased twentyfold. He said the allocation rose from ₹1,100 crore under previous governments to ₹20,000 crore.