New Delhi: The Indian government is planning high-speed bullet trains connecting New Delhi with Varanasi and Prayagraj, two pilgrimage cities of Uttar Pradesh. As per reports, a team of the National High-Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) reached Ayodhya and held meetings with district officials to finalise land for the bullet train station. The bullet train will cover a distance of over 670 km with a speed of 320 to 350 km per hour.
As per the detailed plan, a 941.5 km track will be laid down between Delhi and Varanasi via Agra-Lucknow-Prayagraj. To include Ayodhya in this circuit, a separate link track of 130 km will be laid down between Lucknow and Ayodhya.
Land for Ayodhya bullet train station has been allotted to NHSRC by the state government. The officials of the NHSRC have also marked the area. Ayodhya development officials have stated that the station for the project will come up near the Maryada Purushottam Shree Ramchandra Airport which is being constructed near the Lucknow-Gorakhpur highway bypass.
Reports suggest that NHSRC has even applied for the ‘no objection certificate’ (NOC) from the Airport Authority of India. A senior NHSRC official has informed that as soon as the NOC is received, the work on the project will start. The plan is to connect the land of Lord Ram directly with Delhi.
Two pairs of bullet trains will be running on the route—one between New Delhi and Ayodhya and another between New Delhi and Varanasi. The cost of the entire project of connecting Ayodhya and Varanasi with Delhi through high-speed bullet trains is estimated to be Rs 2 lakh crore.
