New Delhi, 11 July 2014

Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today said:

It is planned to have a Diamond Quadrilateral Network of High Speed Rail, connecting major metros and growth centres of the country.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector has been identified as the first corridor to start High Speed Trains.

The cost of laying per kilometer track of Bullet Train (High Speed Train) is approx. Rs. 80-120 crore, as compared to Rs. 10-12 crore for ordinary track and Rs. 150-200 crore for metro tracks.

The High Speed Rail Project will have to be taken up through an appropriate mix of Government support, multilateral/bilateral funding by alternative means of resource mobilization, including Public-Private-Partnership (PPP).