Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Thursday said that the government is seriously considering a plan for the introduction of bullet trains in India.
"The plan for a bullet train is in the works, but is not something that can be achieved in just a year. The act of doubling is taking us around three years, so the process of creating a high speed corridor and to ply bullet trains on it will be course of action that will take many years," Sinha told ANI.
"Around Rs 100 crore has been put aside so that Railways officials, engineers and personnel can be trained as far as the working of the bullet train is concerned," he added.
Sinha further said that semi-speed corridors are nearing completion.
"There are certain semi-high speed corridors, of which trial runs of the Delhi-Agra route have been undertaken. There are nine other such corridors across the nation, where trial runs are yet to be taken," he said.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu had presented his maiden budget in the Parliament, stating that the sector has to undergo a transformation over the next five years.
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He said the proposed investment in railways will be Rs. 8,56,020 crores by 2019.
The thrust of the Railways is to become a prime mover of the economy once again, act as a resource mobilisation for higher investments, decongestion of heavy haul routes and speeding up of trains, emphasis on gauge conversion, doubling, tripling and electrification.
The minister also announced that Wi-Fi would be provided at 'B' category stations.
