Ahmedabad: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday announced that India’s first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will begin operations very soon, reducing travel time between the two cities to just 2 hours and 7 minutes.

He was speaking to reporters at the Bhavnagar terminus in Gujarat after virtually flagging off three trains, namely the Ayodhya Express, Rewa Pune Express, and Jabalpur Raipur Express. He further stated that the bullet train project is progressing rapidly.

The 508-kilometre high-speed rail corridor will connect Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) with key cities in Gujarat, including Vapi, Surat, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad. The trains are expected to run at speeds of up to 320 km/hour.

Vaishnaw also outlined several upcoming railway projects in Gujarat, including a new Porbandar–Rajkot train, a Rs 135-crore coach maintenance facility at Ranavav station, a railway flyover in Porbandar, two Gati Shakti cargo terminals, and a container terminal at a developing port in Bhavnagar.

He highlighted the nation's progress, saying that during the last 11 years, 34,000 km of new railway tracks have been installed under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi administration, averaging almost 12 km per day. He described the 1,300 railway stations undergoing renovation as an unprecedented endeavour in the history of Indian Railways. Ashwini Vaishnaw pointed out that India is implementing this change while maintaining train operations and keeping stations operational, which reflects the scope of PM Modi's vision, in contrast to developed nations, where station redevelopment entails completely stopping services.