India's first bullet train will be on track in 2026, to run from Surat: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India's first bullet train will be on track in 2026, union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, adding that it will run in one section from Surat.

The minister was speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit. The Centre is working on the 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR project, which is expected to be flagged off in 2026 and will initially cover Surat-Bilimora in Gujarat, and the full stretch is expected to be completed in 2028 — six years past its original deadline.
 
In 2022, the Centre had told Parliament that seven corridors were currently under consideration — Delhi-Varanasi (813 km), Delhi-Ahmedabad (878 km), Mumbai-Nagpur (765 km), Mumbai-Hyderabad (671 km), Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru (435 km), Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (459 km), and Varanasi-Howrah (760 km).

Vaishnaw said three things have helped fast-track upgrading of Indian Railways' technology - increased funding to Indian Railways, a systematic plan for future maintenance of Railway technology, and depoliticising Indian Railways.

"Railway employees are very happy about the future planning of Indian Railways," he told an audience,  adding that "The past governments were using the Indian Railways as a political tool."