Delhi–Siliguri bullet train announced, to cut travel time from 20 hours to 6

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (June 6) announced a bullet train project connecting Delhi and Siliguri in West Bengal stating that it would reduce travel time from 20 hours to just six hours. The latest bullet train project will be the second one in the country, with the first one being the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, which covers a distance of 508 km and is scheduled to be operational next year.

"A bullet train project will come to West Bengal. It will connect Delhi and Siliguri via Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna," said Vaishnaw as quoted by India Today.

The Railways Minister also announced that 60 next-generation trains would be introduced for the Kolkata Metro in the next five years and hoped the railway projects in West Bengal would get a fresh impetus under the “double-engine” government.

Metro expansion push

During a meeting with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at the state secretariat, Nabanna, the railway minister said only 28 km of the Kolkata Metro network was completed in 42 years, while 45 km of metro lines have been added since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014.

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"In the next five years, 60 next-generation trains will be introduced for Kolkata Metro. Today, I took the Kolkata Metro. We will revamp the Kolkata Metro," he said.

Rail projects and political attack

Vaishnaw, who was in Kolkata to review railway and metro projects, lauded Adhikari for the BJP's victory in the state and accused the previous Trinamool Congress government of holding up development initiatives. The minister said railway projects worth over Rs 1 lakh crore were currently being executed across West Bengal.

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"Congratulations on the way you have saved Bengal. Now you can work. For so many years, development work was stopped here," Vaishnaw told Suvendu.

Earlier in the day, the Union Minister travelled by autorickshaw to meet the Chief Minister after inspecting ongoing railway works.

Land acquisition and pending works

Speaking to reporters, Adhikari said the state government would coordinate with the Centre to expedite long-pending railway projects and improve Centre-state cooperation.

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Referring to land acquisition, he said, "Just as we have provided land to the BSF to strengthen border security, we will similarly provide land to the Railways for various projects across West Bengal."

"Projects valued at around Rs 1.02 lakh crore have been pending implementation for a long time... You may recall the case of the metro project at Chingrighata, where the TMC government pursued legal challenges all the way to the Supreme Court. Their attitude was not to allow any development works," added Vaishnaw.

(With agency inputs)