Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid down the foundation stone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train project. India’s first bullet train will start running on August 15, 2022. The bullet train will cover 508 kilometres and reduce travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to around 2 hours from the existing 7-8 hours. The project costs Rs 1,10,000 crore.
After laying the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project, Abe addressed the gathering, beginning his speech with ‘Namaste’. Calling PM Modi a ‘far-sighted leader’, Abe said, “He made a decision of making New India&chose Japan as partner, we completely support it.”
The bhumi pujan for the bullet train project took place at the Sabarmati Athletic Grounds near Sabarmati railway station in Ahmedabad. Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were also present at the venue. The foundation stone for India’s ambitious project was laid down in the presence of thousands of people.
Speaking on what can be seen a historic moment for Indian Raiulways, Piyush Goyal said that the train will be a symbol of brotherhood between India and Japan. He also highlighted how aspersions were cast on Rajdhani initially, the train which now everyone prefers to travel on.
The bullet train will halt at 12 proposed stations that include Bandra-Kurla Complex, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. The bullet train will start underground from the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai and travel 21 kms through a tunnel, seven km of which will be under the sea, before emerging over ground at Thane.
