New Delhi, March 19 : Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday that the Ahmedabad- Mumbai bullet train will be launched in 2026.

'India's first bullet train will be ready in 2026, and will run in one section from Surat,' the minister said at a News 18 media event here.

He said significant progress has been made in the construction of various stations and work has begun on the sea tunnel through which the train will reach Mumbai from Thane.

The Railway Minister had earlier shared a video of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad 'Bullet train' corridor which will cut the travel time on the 508 km route between the two cities to a mere 2 hours.

"Stay tuned for #BulletTrain in Modi 3.0!," the minister had posted on X.

The video highlights some of the features of the state-of-the-art train project being built with an investment of Rs 1.08 lakh crore. These include:

*The Bullet train is expected to touch a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour on the route.

*The corridor will feature a slab track system, a technology to be used for the first time in India.

*As many as 24 river bridges, 28 steel bridges, and seven mountain tunnels are being erected for the Bullet train route.

*The corridor will also have a 7 km undersea tunnel

The video described the project as "a marvel of world-class engineering" and the "future of India."

The objective of the project is to develop a high-frequency mass transportation system by constructing the High-Speed Rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, using Japan's Shinkansen technology (also known as the Bullet Train), thereby enhancing mobility in India and contributing to regional economic development.

On December 21, 2023, the government signed a loan agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to provide an Official Development Assistance loan of 400 billion Japanese Yen (approx. Rs 22,627 crore) as the 5th tranche for the construction of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project.

The agreement also provides for the deployment of Japanese Shinkansen experts to work alongside the executing agency, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).

/IANS