4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 10, 2026 08:52 PM IST
The ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Line — India’s first bullet train project — will begin its operations with Bharat-made Bullet trainset (B28), according to the report of the Standing Committee on Railways tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
The report noted that the first section of the 508-km project from Surat to Vapi (97 km) is likely to be made operational in August 2027 with India-made high-speed trains. The design speed of the Indian bullet train is 280 kmph and two sets are currently being developed by BEML in Bengaluru.
Until now, there was an uncertainty whether Japan’s bullet train or India-made one would run on the first completed stretch of the project. The report also states that the development of Japan’s E10 Series Shinkansen bullet train is currently underway. However, it does not specify when the Japanese train will be deployed in the project, suggesting that challenges in procuring rolling stock from Japan still remain.
“…there are challenges in getting rolling stock from Japan. You will be happy to know that we are making B28 in India. In the first stage, it will run at 250 kmph. After that we will develop it for 350 or 320 kmph… We have to run the first commercial service in Surat in August 2027… The signaling system related to this will be ETCS Level 2, which will operate at 250 and 280 kmph. Its tender has already been awarded and we are installing it. (The) Japan one will come, but right now we are doing our own work. This has two advantages. In this year’s budget, sanction has been given for 4,000 kilometres (for high-speed project). We will become capable of building it by ourselves before that. On all these new routes also, Indian rolling stock will run — that is our belief,” states the report, while quoting a representative of the Ministry of Railways.
The government has also announced Mumbai–Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri high-speed rail corridors as “growth-connectors” in Budget 2026-27.
According to the house panel report, the detailed project reports (DPRs) of Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Patna corridors have been submitted to the Railway Board for approval. DPRs of Hyderabad-Chennai, Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Patna-Siliguri are being prepared.
“While pursuing indigenisation of high-speed rail components and associated technologies, the committee recommends that the railways undertake a comprehensive study of successful high-speed rail networks in countries where such systems are operating efficiently. The committee is of the view that drawing upon international best practices in planning, execution and operations would help in expediting project completion, minimise cost overruns and facilitate the development of a world-class high-speed rail network in the country,” said the standing committee on Railways.
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Asked about the cost escalation in the project, the Railways informed the committee that the project cost of Rs. 97,636 crore was approved by the Cabinet in December 2015, based on the feasibility report. However, the cost has increased due to several factors that were not fully accounted for initially, including the addition of taxes and cess (Rs 29,330 crore), rolling stock and signalling systems (Rs 16,500 crore), inflation (Rs 19,084 crore), and higher land acquisition as well as resettlement and rehabilitation costs (Rs 16,695 crore), said the Ministry. The overall cost of the first bullet train project has nearly doubled to about Rs 1.98 lakh crore from the initial estimate of Rs 1.08 lakh crore.
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