Delhi-Varanasi bullet train will have a stop at Jewar

GREATER NOIDA: The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) said that the proposed bullet train line between Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan and Varanasi

GREATER NOIDA: The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) said that the proposed bullet train line between Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan and Varanasi will have a station at Jewar to provide high-speed connectivity to the proposed Noida International Greenfield Airport.

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The high-speed rail project will run parallel to the 25-km Noida-Greater Noida expressway, 165-km Yamuna Expressway, and 361-km Agra-Lucknow Expressway, among other highways, said officials of Yeida. The average speed of the bullet train will be 320 km per hour and it will take 21 minutes to reach Jewar airport from Delhi, they said.

The decision was taken recently after central government officials working on this ambitious project had several round of discussions with the Noida authority and Yeida officials on the alignment of the route.

“Teams working on this project have decided that the bullet train should be built on divider (central median) on the expressways because it will be cost effective. If the route is proposed along the expressways, then the government will have to acquire the land increasing the project cost. With route above the expressways, there will not be any requirement of land acquisition,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, Yeida.

According to the officials, the 865-km long route of bullet train will have 10 stations between Delhi and Varanasi. The train capacity will be 750 passengers and the station names are Noida, Jewar Airport, Mathura, Agra, New Etawah, South Kannnauj, Lucknow, Raebareli, Prayagraj, New Bhadohi.

With a total of 12 stations, the estimated cost of this project is ₹1.2 1 lakh crore. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), which will be constructing the project, has started making a detailed project report, the officials said. However, it has not fixed the deadline as to when DPR will be ready and submitted to the ministry of railways.

“We have been working on the detailed project report of this project and survey work of the route is also underway. We are working on all the aspects of this project and we will soon submit DPR that will have all details related with stations, cost and others,” said Sushma Gaur, spokesperson of NHSRCL.

However, Gaur did not give any deadline for the completion of DPR work.

Yeida officials said that the bullet train project will help boost connectivity in and around Jewar airport area. “Commuters from Delhi-NCR will smoothly travel to Jewar airport through bullet train that will have minimum speed of 250 km per hour and maximum 350 km per hour. The operational speed of this bullet train will be 320 km per hour,” said an official from Yeida on condition of anonymity.

The Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), the nodal agency for the proposed Jewar international airport, has already signed an agreement with the Swiss company Zurich International AG that is likely to start construction on the airport project site in June next year. The airport project with a budget of around ₹30,000 crore is projected to be operational by 2023-24.

NIAL is happy to have connectivity through bullet train till Jewar airport because it will provide comfort to the passengers. “Having bullet train connectivity from Delhi to Jewar will be a big thing because a passenger who wants to take flight can reach here in 21 minutes from Delhi. It will also help increase passenger traffic at Jewar airport,” said Singh, who is also chief executive officer of NIAL.