Railway Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw recently addressed questions in the Rajya Sabha from Smt. Geeta Alias Chandraprabha and Shri Narayana Koragappa, confirming that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project, covering a distance of 508 kilometers, is currently the only officially sanctioned high-speed rail project in India.
Apart from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, the Ministry of Railways has tasked the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) with preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for additional high-speed rail corridors.
The new corridors include:
Delhi - Varanasi
Delhi - Ahmedabad
Delhi - Amritsar
Mumbai - Nagpur
Among these, the Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Howrah corridors will pass through Uttar Pradesh, and their development is subject to the successful completion of the DPRs, techno-economic feasibility, and availability of financing. These high-speed rail projects are capital-intensive, and decisions on their approval will depend on a thorough assessment of these factors.
The expansion of India’s high-speed rail network is poised to revolutionize travel, significantly cutting down travel times and offering more efficient transportation options. The government continues to explore opportunities to strengthen the nation’s rail network to meet the growing demand for faster and more reliable transportation.