The Bengaluru-Pune bullet train corridor could be among the next high-speed rail projects announced by the Union government, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday, while announcing that a Bengaluru-Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express would be introduced within the next few weeks.
Vaishnaw was speaking after flagging off the inaugural run of the Vande Bharat Sleeper Express between Bengaluru and Mumbai. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved 4,000 km of bullet train corridors, with another 3,000 km expected to be announced in the coming years.
“Another 3,000 kilometres of bullet train corridors will be announced in the coming years, and there will be many more corridors like Bengaluru-Pune, which covers entire Karnataka, from Bengaluru towards Hubballi, all the way to Pune. That corridor will be covered as well,” Vaishnaw said.
The minister’s remarks indicate a possible high-speed rail alignment connecting Bengaluru with central and northern Karnataka before extending towards Pune. However, the statement did not provide a project notification, approved alignment, construction timeline, cost, station list or funding details for the Bengaluru-Pune corridor.
Vaishnaw also referred to a proposed southern bullet train corridor that has received approval from the Prime Minister. The corridor would connect Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Amaravati and Chennai, linking major economic and technology centres across southern India.
According to the minister, the envisaged journey time between Bengaluru and Chennai would be 73 minutes, while travel between Bengaluru and Hyderabad would take two hours and 10 minutes. He said the faster connections would bring the large economies and technology capitals of southern India closer together.
The announcements come as the railway network in Karnataka is also being expanded through faster intercity services, station redevelopment, Bengaluru’s suburban rail network and metro expansion. Vaishnaw cited these initiatives while speaking about the broader growth of railway infrastructure and connectivity in the state.
The immediate service announcement concerns the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Vande Bharat Express. Vaishnaw said electrification and testing on the route had been completed and that the train would be introduced within the next few weeks.
“Within the next few weeks, we will have Mangaluru to Bengaluru Vande Bharat. Bengaluru to Mangaluru Vande Bharat, we will very soon have, and that will connect the entire region with very good, world-class high-speed connectivity,” he said.
The proposed service is expected to improve rail connectivity between Bengaluru and coastal Karnataka, including Mangaluru and Udupi. Vaishnaw also identified the region extending towards Karwar and Goa as important destinations requiring improved rail links.
The Bengaluru-Mangaluru route announcement follows the completion of the work cited by the minister, but details such as the service’s launch date, timetable, number of stops and fares were not provided in the statement.
Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and H D Kumaraswamy, Ministers of State V Somanna and Shobha Karandlaje, and Members of Parliament Tejasvi Surya, P C Mohan and C N Manjunath were among those present at the event. The next formal milestones for the proposed bullet train corridors and the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Vande Bharat service will determine how the announcements move towards implementation.
