By IANS,
New Delhi : India could have as many as seven exclusive corridors for bullet trains, Minister of State for Railways Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy told the Rajya Sabha Thursday.
In a written reply to a question from Goa Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik, Reddy said Spain, China and Austria were assisting Indian railways with technological inputs to get Indian trains into the high speed gear.
The bullet trains are named so for their appearance and speed.
“For introduction of high speed passenger trains in the country, Ministry of Railways has identified seven corridors for carrying out pre-feasibility studies,” Reddy said.
The minister further said that pre-feasibility studies had been conducted on three corridors already: Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad (650 km), Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Patna (991 km) and Howrah-Haldia (135 km).
Offering an insight into the funds to be committed for the purpose, the minister said the estimated cost of the first corridor from Pune to Ahmedabad was Rs.55,859 crore.