Announcing a wave of rail infrastructure plans for West Bengal, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (6 June) unveiled a bullet train project linking Delhi with Siliguri, the gateway to the northeast, India Today reported.
He said the corridor would cut travel time to just six hours from the current 20 hours.
"A bullet train project will come to West Bengal.
It will connect Delhi and Siliguri via Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna," the Union Minister said.
"Just as we have provided land to the BSF to strengthen border security, we will similarly provide land to the Railways for various projects across West Bengal," he said.
Announcing a wave of rail infrastructure plans for West Bengal, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (6 June) unveiled a bullet train project linking Delhi with Siliguri, the gateway to the northeast, India Today reported.
He said the corridor would cut travel time to just six hours from the current 20 hours.
The project will be India's second after the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, expected to begin operations next year.
"A bullet train project will come to West Bengal. It will connect Delhi and Siliguri via Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna," the Union Minister said.
During his Kolkata visit, where he also took a metro ride, Vaishnaw lauded Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for the poll victory and for "saving Bengal" from the Trinamool Congress, which he accused of stalling key projects.
He said railway works worth over Rs 1 lakh crore were under way in the state.
"Congratulations on the way you have saved Bengal. Now you can work. For so many years, development work was stopped here," Vaishnaw told Suvendu, widely regarded as the architect of the BJP's turnaround.
Adhikari, who accompanied the minister, said his government would coordinate with the Centre to speed up pending projects, blaming the Mamata Banerjee regime for straining Centre-state ties. "Just as we have provided land to the BSF to strengthen border security, we will similarly provide land to the Railways for various projects across West Bengal," he said.
Vaishnaw added that the Kolkata Metro would get 60 new-generation trains over five years, while 102 stations in Bengal were being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat scheme.
Taking a swipe at the TMC, he cited the delayed Chingrighata metro stretch, noting that "Projects valued at around Rs 1.02 lakh crore have been pending implementation for a long time."
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