India working on developing bullet trains with indigenous tech: Ashwini Vaishnaw

India is working on developing bullet trains with indigenous technology, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

He said in the Lok Sabha that the bullet train project, first of which is under construction between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, is very complex technologically and is being implemented with the help of Japan.

"Bullet train project is a very complex and technology intensive project. Considering the highest level of safety and associated maintenance protocols, bullet train project has been designed with the support of Japanese railway. It is customised for Indian requirements and climatic conditions.Timelines for the completion of the project can be reasonably ascertained after the completion of all associated works of civil structures, track, electrical, signalling and telecommunication and supply of train sets," he said during Question Hour.

The total distance the bullet train will cover between the two western cities will be 508 km of which work in 320 km stretch has been going on in full swing, he said.

He said that work in the Maharashtra portion had slowed down but it picked up after the BJP-Shiv Sena government came to power in 2022 and all relevant permissions have been received from the state government.

"Now, work is going on very speedily," he said. The minister said construction of India's first undersea rail tunnel, which will be 21-km long, is underway.Initially, India received bullet train technology from abroad but now many technologies have been developed in the country too, he noted.

"We are working on developing bullet trains fully with indigenous technology and become 'atmanirbhar' (self reliant)," he said.Vaishnaw said presently construction is going on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project and it is passing through Gujarat, Maharashtra and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The length of the project is 508 km with 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

The minister said till now, 350 km of pier foundation, 316 km of pier construction, 221 km of girder casting and 190 km of girder launching have been completed.

He also said that at present 102 Vande Bharat train services are operational on the Indian Railways network.