Bullet train to connect Kolkata to Delhi via Varanasi
Several cities in Uttar Pradesh including Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur will be connected through this route
Kolkata: Ahead of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh (UP) scheduled early 2017; the Indian government has announced the second bullet train connecting Kolkata with the country’s capital via several cities of poll bound state including that of Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s constituency.
Speaking to newsmen, Suresh Prabhu said that it is a dream of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government to connect all the four metros via high-speed rail network know as Diamond Quadrilateral project.
“It was in our manifesto where we spoke of high-speed rail. We are working towards fulfilling that dream into reality,” the Union minister said.
a feasibility study conducted by a Spanish firm has stated that travelling at a speed of 300-KM per hour the bullet train will complete the 1513-KM long Delhi Kolkata route in 4 hours 56 minutes as against 17-hours taken by the Rajdhani Express travelling at 100-KM per hour.
While the travel time for Lucknow to Delhi is likely to be 1 hour 45 minutes, one will reach Varanasi in 2 hours 45 minutes from the national capital. The report states that Delhi-Varanasi stretch will reportedly cost Rs430 billion (Dh23.3 billion) while the Delhi-Kolkata stretch will cost Rs840 billion.
Similar reports are also being carried out for Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai high speed corridors of the project. The study for the Chennai and Kolkata route is yet to be taken up.
The initiate taken by the government is also seen as a poll plank ahead of the UP elections where BJP is keen to win the state. “Development has been our corner stone in 2014 elections and in keeping with that promise we are going ahead. We will fight the UP elections on that same agenda as against communal and caste based politics of our opponents,” said Nalin Kohli, national spokesperson of the ruling party.
Several other announcements including focus on Ganga cleaning considered as a pet project of Narendra Modi will be given major focus ahead of the poll. Even a major cabinet reshuffle is being though over where several parliamentarians from UP
This is the second initiative of the government to build high-speed network in the country. The Mumbai-Ahmadabad project is already underway and is expected to be completed by 2023. It is expected to cover the distance of 508km between the two cities in about two hours, running at a maximum speed of 350-km per hour and operating speed of 320km per hour.
