Posted on 09/15/2017 5:49:12 AM PDT by entropy12
Ahmedabad (India) (AFP) - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday inaugurated India's first bullet train project -- a $19 billion line in the home state of Indian leader Narendra Modi.
The initiative is a major step toward reviving India's accident-prone delapidated rail network but is also seen as emblematic of fast warming relations between New Delhi and Tokyo. Both want to combat China's growing influence.
The line, using Japanese trains and technology, will link Ahmedabad to India's financial capital Mumbai and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2023.
The 500 kilometre (310 mile) journey will be cut from eight hours now to just over two hours when services start.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Actually, there will be a 21 km long tunnel under the sea as it approaches Mumbai - there is no space to build overground in that area.
Thanks . . . it is always good to have someone who has been there and done that add a little perspective. The closest I’ve gotten to India is flying over it though I did work for a boss in Japan who told me he was on a two week assignment there once (1990s) and was so appalled by the sanitation there that he never ventured from the hotel, the job assignment and the route there between.
I really enjoyed hearing your train stories.
My wife and I have always enjoyed trains, and my wife always looks for opportunities to ride trains.
He was right. I still get nightmares thinking about all the 3rd rate hotels I have stayed in during my college years in India. My parents built our house in 1940 and it had flush toilets and showers and electricity. If you travel to India, stay only in 5-star hotels. Those are very nice.
OK, 50+ years ago when I traveled so many times between Vadodara & Mumbai, I do not recall going through any tunnels. I hope those long bridges over river Narmada & Tapi are strong enough to handle a super fast moving train.
I don't think anyone here actually thinks that would happen.
The bullet train will have its own track, mostly elevated but which, approaching Mumbai becomes an undersea tunnel.
BTW, there are lots of clean 3 and 4 star hotels now. The middle class Indian is much more demanding these days!
Good to know! Thanks for the information. And yes, India seems to be much more prosperous now compared to 50 years ago.
No seats on the roof?
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