India plans bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai

India has started construction of its first bullet train railroad. After the foundation stone for India's first high-speed train was laid, services between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will start in 2022.

It was Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who laid the first stone; the new train track and system is mostly funded by a US$17 billion loan from Japan. The bullet train will cut the 500-kilometre journey time between Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Mumbai (Maharashtra) from the current eight hours to three hours.

TravelWeeklyAsia reports that India's railway system carries more than 22 million passengers a day; much of the equipment is out of date, leading to frequent accidents and chronic delays. India's first high-speed rail line will travel most the time on an elevated corridor, except for a 21-km underground tunnel between Thane and Virar, of which 7 km will be undersea. The corridor will begin at the underground station in the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai, and then traverse 21 km underground before emerging above ground.

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