The Ministry of Railways has stepped up efforts to fast-track seven newly announced high-speed rail (HSR) corridors, with the Railway Board directing the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) to revise detailed project reports (DPRs) for the proposed routes.
A high-level meeting was held at the Railway Board to review the implementation roadmap for the corridors announced in the Union Budget 2026. The proposed routes include Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi and Varanasi–Siliguri.
The Railway Board has instructed NHSRCL to set up dedicated core teams for each project, establish corridor-wise project headquarters and prepare a list of pre-construction activities. It has also asked for the early initiation of contract documentation and planning for adequate, trained technical manpower to meet the requirements of the high-speed rail projects. Project-wise manpower assessments, including the need for personnel from Indian Railways, have also been mandated.
Addressing a press conference earlier this month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the seven corridors would span nearly 4,000 km and are expected to attract investments of around ₹16 lakh crore, marking a major expansion of India’s bullet train network.
Source – The Indian Express
