Arvind Kejriwal was thought to be a master tactician and an honest politician when he burst into the political scene. He is more appropriately recognized as a failed politician and for creating controversies nowadays. One of the many baseless claims made by Arvind Kejriwal was the mention of the Bullet Train fares. The ‘excellent’ mathematical brain of Arvind Kejriwal, working in tandem with his ‘advanced’ political knowledge, had led him to the conclusion that a one-way fare of the Bullet Train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad would cost Rs. 75,000 per head.
A joint venture between the Japanese and the Indian companies, Bullet Train project will be the first of its kind in India. The Bullet Train will operate between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, bringing down the travel time between the two cities to 2 hours. It will have 12 stops between the two major cities. At a top speed of 320kmph, it will be a delight and a boon for the travelers in the region. The 500 km journey will surely be an astounding one.
Achal Khare, the managing director of National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd. (NHSRCL), has reportedly claimed that the fares of the Bullet Train will cost as low as Rs 250 for a trip between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Thane. He also mentioned that the minimum cost for a one-way trip between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be Rs. 3,000 per head. This, according to Khare, is based on the present projections and calculations.
He added that there will be a business class coach in the train which will cost more than Rs. 3,000 per person but he maintained that 9 out of the 10 coaches will have the Rs. 3000 cap on the ticket price.
An average taxi ride between the BKC and Thane costs Rs. 400 today, the Bullet train will not only bring down the travel time but also the money spent by commuters on the ride. The average fair of the Bullet train between two stations will be 1.5 times the cost of the first class fare between the same.
The far-fetched calculations of Kejriwal seem to be another blunder by the controversial politician. His predictions for the Bullet Trains seem to be failing just like his predictions of winning elections have. The facts presented by the NHSRCL chief have busted Kejriwal’s theories. The Rs. 75,000 price presented by Kejriwal would be enough for a marriage party who have to commute between Mumbai & Ahmedabad.
“The journey will be much more affordable and less time consuming than in a flight, if the trip to the airport, getting boarding passes and security checks are taken into consideration,” Khare said.
The construction work for the project could start as early as December 2018. The 1,415 hectare land acquisition needed for the project is already underway and is expected to end in December following which the construction work will begin.
It is an ambitious move for India as it will become the first country in South Asia to have a Bullet Train network. It will also pave the way for faster, smoother and efficient rail networks in times to come. The overall railway network will be modernized in the years to come. If everything goes as per plan, the Bullet Train project will start running in the year 2022, the time by which baseless claims and claim makers like Kejriwal would have gone one by one.