Bullet train north corridor to extend to Guwahati, says Vaishnaw

Guwahati is set to be the eastern end of India's proposed northern bullet train corridor, after Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the route.

Speaking in Varanasi before flagging off new Vande Bharat Sleeper Express services between Varanasi and New Delhi, Vaishnaw said the corridor would link Delhi with Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna and Siliguri, and then extend to Guwahati, The Times of India reported, citing PTI. Mathrubhumi and Hub News carried the same route.

What the minister announced

Vaishnaw said the approval would "change the lives of many" and that the project would help young people, middle-income families and small-scale artisans. He said all construction, from the pillars to the girders, would be done in India under the "Make in India" push, and that work was moving fast.

He also gave target journey times for the western half of the route: Delhi to Agra in 59 minutes, Delhi to Kanpur in 1 hour 45 minutes, Delhi to Lucknow in 2 hours 12 minutes, Lucknow to Varanasi in 1 hour 21 minutes, and Delhi to Varanasi in about 3 hours 35 minutes.

The minister brushed aside criticism that a bullet train would only serve the rich. According to Hub News, he said fares would be economical and well below airfares.

What it could mean for the North East

For Assam and the wider region, Guwahati's place on the map is the headline. The city is the main gateway to the North East by rail and air, and a high-speed link through Siliguri, the narrow corridor that connects the region with the rest of India, could in future offer an alternative to flights for travel to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

What is still unclear

No timeline has been given. Vaishnaw did not say when construction would start, when passenger services could begin, or how much the corridor would cost, according to Mathrubhumi. No travel times were announced for the Patna-Siliguri-Guwahati stretch, and the alignment and station locations in Assam and West Bengal have not been made public.

India's first bullet train line, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, is still under construction. A detailed project report and land acquisition would normally come before any work starts on a new corridor.

NEInsider will follow up when the Railway Ministry releases details of the Guwahati section.