VARANASI, November 1 (Aalimi Nation) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a Northern Bullet Train Corridor that would link Delhi with Guwahati through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Saturday. The minister made the announcement in Varanasi, where he flagged off the Varanasi–New Delhi Vande Bharat Sleeper Express along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
According to the minister, the line will start in Delhi and run through Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Patna before reaching Siliguri and, eventually, Guwahati in Assam. Official information puts the length of the corridor at roughly 1,500 kilometres.
Mr. Vaishnaw gave projected travel times for when the line is complete. Delhi to Agra would take 59 minutes, Delhi to Kanpur one hour 45 minutes, and Delhi to Lucknow two hours 12 minutes. Delhi to Varanasi would take about three hours 33 minutes, while Lucknow to Varanasi would take one hour 21 minutes. Varanasi to Patna would take about an hour, and Varanasi to Prayagraj 33 minutes.
For the eastern stretch, the minister said the corridor could cut the present Delhi–Siliguri journey of around 20 hours to about six hours. He said the project would be completed in the coming years, but no cost estimate, financing plan or construction start date was given in the announcement.
Responding to the suggestion that high-speed rail would serve only wealthy travellers, Mr. Vaishnaw said fares would be highly economical and well below air fares. He said the network is meant to benefit young people, middle-income families, small-scale industries and local artisans, and to improve connectivity across northern and eastern India.
The minister also said the bullet train components, from pillars to girders, would be made in India. Mr. Adityanath said a Delhi–Varanasi bullet train would offer a simpler, more convenient and more affordable alternative to flying. Officials said the line would give Uttar Pradesh its first bullet train service.
The northern corridor forms part of a broader government blueprint for seven high-speed rail corridors across the country. India's first bullet train, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, is scheduled to begin partial operations in August 2027, according to official timelines cited at the announcement. The newly approved line would be the first of the planned corridors to run through the Hindi heartland and the eastern states.
The Vande Bharat Sleeper Express, flagged off the same day, is a separate overnight service that runs on existing tracks between Varanasi and the capital.
The announcement did not say when the project would start. Questions about its cost, the share to be borne by the Centre and the states, and the timeline for construction have not been answered in public statements so far, and the railway ministry has not released an alignment map or a list of station locations.
For now, the announcement sets out a direction rather than a timetable. Passengers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam will have to wait for further details of the alignment and the schedule.
