Hope floats for Pune-Ahmedabad bullet train

Hope floats for Pune-Ahmedabad bullet train:
Indian Express: At a meeting with infrastructure ministers and secretaries last week in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the green signal to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train service. The elevated rail corridor project is expected to cut down travel time drastically.
The meeting was held to finalise the action plan for the 500-km high-speed corridor, which has a total investment of Rs 20,000 crore. However, Y K Singh, Pune railway spokesperson, said they so far have no intimation about the bullet train plan.
Welcoming the development, Harsha Shah, president, Railway Pravasi Group, said the bullet train plan has been in the pipeline for long. “In 2006, tenders were issued. A Japanese company had also evinced interest in taking up the project, but nothing happened so far. But the latest development is heartening. If work starts on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train plan, the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad plan would also get a push,” Shah said.
The train is expected to run at 350 km per hour reducing the travel time between Pune and Mumbai. “The train service will cover Lonavala, Karjat and Wadala and from there will head towards Ahmedabad” she said, adding at present, Duronto, the fastest train from Pune to Ahmedabad takes over seven hours. With the bullet train, commuters will reach Ahmedabad in two-and-a-half hours.
She said, “Planning and laying of tracks would take time, so if work starts in a few months then in five years the bullet train should be ready. In case of further delay, the project cost would go up.”
Rajesh Rathore, a regular commuter, said, “Places where the bullet train would take a halt would get a major boost.”