Indian Railways eyes 350 kmph speeds with its next indigenous bullet train; first one to have 280 kmph potential

Indigenous bullet train at 350 kmph! Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said India’s next-generation bullet train is being planned with a top speed of 350 kilometres per hour. He added that work on the train’s design is expected to commence within the next six months.The 508-kilometre Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor, launched in 2016, is currently under construction and is intended to support trains running at speeds of up to 320 kmph. The first phase of operations is expected to begin in August 2027.India’s first bullet train is currently being manufactured by Bengaluru-based BEML and is likely to be ready by 2027.At present, BEML and the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) are jointly working on the B28 bullet train project, designed for speeds of up to 280 kmph. The prototype is likely to be completed early next year and is scheduled to begin operations on a section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor by August 2027.“Our next domestically developed high-speed train will be capable of running at 350 kmph,” Vaishnaw told ET.Vaishnaw said the upcoming high-speed trains are being equipped with specialised features tailored to India’s varied climatic conditions.The minister also stated that the Railway Board will prioritise safety while integrating new technologies during the current financial year. According to him, close to 70,000 kilometres of railway tracks have been laid over the past decade, and more than 80% of the national rail network is now capable of supporting train speeds of up to 110 kmph.Earlier this week, an image of the proposed design of India’s first indigenous bullet train was displayed at Rail Bhawan. The Railway Board has said that the image is a design stage one, symbolic in nature and not the actual design of the train.The visual of the high-speed train, recently installed at Rail Bhawan, drew considerable attention from visitors, many of whom assumed it represented the first official glimpse of India’s inaugural bullet train project, slated for launch in August 2027.