PM Modi Approves Delhi to Guwahati Bullet Train North Corridor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the north corridor of India’s bullet train project, a high-speed rail network that will link Delhi with Guwahati in Assam, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Saturday. The corridor is expected to transform travel across northern and eastern India, sharply reducing journey times between major cities. The proposed route will connect Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna and Siliguri, before extending to Guwahati. Vaishnaw said the Prime Minister’s approval would change the lives of many people, benefiting the youth, the middle-income group and artisans in small-scale industries for decades to come. The minister detailed the projected travel times, which show the scale of the change. Delhi to Agra will take just 59 minutes, Delhi to Kanpur one hour and 45 minutes, and Delhi to Lucknow two hours and 12 minutes. Lucknow to Varanasi will take one hour and 21 minutes, while Delhi to Varanasi will take about three hours and 35 minutes. Vaishnaw emphasised that the construction work for the bullet train, from pillar to girder, will be made in India, with domestic workers and engineers involved in building the network. He said the vision shared by the Prime Minister would be remembered for generations, and that the corridor would serve the nation for decades, indeed for up to a century. The announcement was made in Varanasi before the flagging off of the new Vande Bharat Sleeper Express services between Varanasi and New Delhi. Vaishnaw said the sleeper services will allow passengers to leave Banaras at night and reach Delhi by morning, and vice versa, adding a new level of comfort to overnight travel. Ten new MEMU services are also being launched in Varanasi, covering Banaras City, Banaras Cantt, Banaras Station and Rajatalab and running through the day across the city. India’s first bullet train line, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, is still under construction. The north corridor marks a major expansion of the country’s high-speed rail ambitions beyond the western region, bringing the promise of bullet train travel to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and the Northeast. No timeline for construction or for the start of passenger services on the new corridor, and no detailed project cost, has been announced yet. Even so, the approval itself is a landmark step, signalling that high-speed rail is now firmly on the national agenda for the whole of northern and eastern India. For passengers, traders, students and small businesses along the route, the corridor promises faster, safer and more reliable travel — and a closer connection between the national capital and the far east of the country.