India bullet train: India starts work on its first Japanese high speed rail line - TomoNews

AHMEDABAD, INDIA — India has started building a high-speed train system with the help of Japanese technology and finance. The network will stretch 508 kms from Ahmedabad to the financial center of Mumbai, and was announced Thursday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Guardian reported. The country plans to invest $19 billion to construct the new bullet train line. Japan will fund more than 80 percent of the project, over $14 billion, by providing a 0.1 percent interest loan to be repaid over the next 50 years. The line is expected to be finished by 2023 and will cut travel time between the two cities down to three hours from the current eight. The Modi administration claims that the project will create 36,000 jobs in India, according to the Guardian. The bullet train can carry 750 passengers at an average speed of 250 kph, with a top speed of 320 kph. Analysts say constructing the bullet train will give a boost to infrastructure development in India’s quickly-developing western industrial region and help with economic growth.