Mamata Banerjee wants a bullet train for Bengal, writes to Centre

The chief minister said on Friday that the state government has requested the Centre to plan a bullet train service between Andal airport in Burdwan district and Kolkata.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of India’s first bullet train service that will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee demanded a train for her state as well.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants a bullet train service between Burdwan and Kolkata. (Samir Jana/HT Photo)

While leaving the state secretariat on Friday evening she said it “would be great” if the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum or the railway stations at Howrah or Sealdah could be connected to the Andal airport in Burdwan district by a bullet train service.

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“If that is done then one can commute from Andal to Kolkata in about 45 minutes. We have written to the Union railway minister in this regard,” said Banerjee.

The Andal airport has been set up to improve urban infrastructure in the industrial zone in Burdwan district. Incidentally, the airport has so far seen negligible passenger traffic.

On Thursday, Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for the project to build India’s first bullet train network. The government has said the bullet train technology will revolutionise and transform the railways.

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The train will have a top speed of 320-350 km per hour and it is expected to reduce travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad to around 2 hours from the existing 7-8 hours. The fare could be in the range of Rs 3000 - Rs 5,000.

On the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route, 12 stations have been proposed: Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.