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India Targets Homegrown 350 kmph Bullet Trains by 2030

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India plans indigenous B35 bullet trains at 350 kmph by 2030, while BEML builds B28 sets for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor from 2027.

India intends to design and build its own high-speed trains capable of running at 350 kmph by 2030, according to a Cabinet proposal from the railway ministry. The trains, designated B35, would place India's homegrown rolling stock alongside Japan's next-generation E10 series, which is also set to begin production that year.

The plan surfaced in the ministry's request for Cabinet approval of a revised budget for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project. The Cabinet has cleared a new project cost of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, close to double the figure drawn up in 2015. The bulk of the roughly Rs 1 lakh crore increase will be covered through budgetary support.

The full 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad line is due for completion by December 2030. A shorter section is expected to open earlier, in 2027, served by trains that public-sector firm BEML is building with a design speed of 280 kmph. These sets, called B28, will run at a maximum operating speed of 249 kmph on the corridor.

BEML has already won orders for 32 B28 trains. In a filing with the BSE on Friday, the company said it had picked up a further contract worth Rs 5,400 crore to build another 15 sets. Two prototype B28 trains are expected to be ready for trial runs in the first quarter of 2027.

Why India turned to its own design

The ministry told the Cabinet that development of the faster B35 trains began after Japan signalled in December 2024 that it was retiring its existing E5 series. Japan said manufacturing of the replacement E10 series would start in 2030, with those trains fit for service only by 2034. Officials said India would still weigh using E10 trains once they are available.

Alongside the trains, India will build its own signalling and control platform, the Bharat Train Control System (BTCS). The approach mirrors China's indigenous CTCS system, which governs train speed, spacing and safety across both regular and high-speed lines.

What drove the cost up

The project's price has climbed steeply from the earlier estimate of Rs 1.1 lakh crore. Land acquisition alone has more than tripled, reaching around Rs 19,700 crore. Infrastructure spending has risen by close to 50% to top Rs 1 lakh crore, while outlay on trains and signalling has roughly doubled against the 2015 plan. Leaving aside the cost of any future Japanese trains, the line now works out to about Rs 399 crore per kilometre.

The B28 coaches will be fully air-conditioned chair cars fitted with onboard infotainment, reclining and rotatable seats, and dedicated arrangements for divyangjans. BEML has built a purpose-made facility, the 'Aditya' High-Speed Rail Complex in Bengaluru, to assemble the trains.

Unlike bullet trains in Japan and Europe, which are tuned for cold climates, the Indian sets are being engineered for the country's heat and dust. Experts see the effort as a notable engineering advance. Producing a high-speed train calls for skills well beyond those used to build the LHB coaches Indian Railways makes today. The body must be both strong and light, the wheels and suspension must hold a steady ride at speed, and the control systems must keep passengers comfortable through sharp pressure changes.

Seven more corridors on the map

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad line is one of several high-speed routes on the drawing board. This year's Budget added seven more corridors, and a domestic manufacturing base could supply their trains more cheaply. The proposed links and their target journey times are Mumbai-Pune at 48 minutes; Pune-Hyderabad at 1 hour 55 minutes; Hyderabad-Bengaluru at 2 hours; Hyderabad-Chennai at 2 hours 55 minutes; Chennai-Bengaluru at 1 hour 13 minutes; Delhi-Varanasi at 3 hours 50 minutes; and Varanasi-Siliguri via Patna at 2 hours 55 minutes.

India bullet train, Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail, BEML B28 train, B35 bullet train, Bharat Train Control System, Indian Railways, high-speed rail corridors, MAHSR project cost

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