Bengaluru to Chennai in 73 minutes: Bullet train plan puts city on India’s high-speed rail map

Union Budget proposal links Bengaluru with Chennai and Hyderabad through bullet trains, making it part of the High-Speed Diamond Project, even as concerns remain over Karnataka’s wider regional rail needs.

The Union Budget’s announcement of high-speed rail corridors connecting Bengaluru with Chennai and Hyderabad has triggered mixed reactions across Karnataka. While the proposed bullet train projects are expected to redefine inter-city travel by drastically reducing journey times, questions have been raised about their overall impact on the State’s broader rail infrastructure.

On Monday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw detailed the budgetary support for railway projects in Karnataka and highlighted the strategic importance of the proposed corridors. He said the bullet train links to Chennai and Hyderabad would place Bengaluru firmly within the High-Speed Diamond Project, a major national network that will also include Amaravati.

Calling the initiative a “game-changer,” Vaishnaw said the new corridors would significantly benefit residents of Bengaluru. According to him, the travel time between Bengaluru and Chennai would be reduced to just 1 hour and 13 minutes, effectively bringing the two cities much closer. He added that the journey between Bengaluru and Hyderabad would take only about 2 hours once the project is completed.

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The minister remarked that with such reduced travel durations, Bengaluru and Chennai would, in a sense, function like a single extended urban region, boosting mobility, business, and economic integration between the cities.

Alongside the high-speed rail announcement, Vaishnaw said Karnataka has received a railway budget allocation of ₹7,748 crore. He also noted that railway projects worth ₹53,000 crore are currently under execution across the State, indicating continued investment in rail infrastructure beyond the bullet train corridors.

Despite the optimism around faster connectivity between major metropolitan centres, the announcement has drawn a cautious response from some quarters, with concerns over whether similar attention will be given to improving rail links within other parts of Karnataka. The debate now centres on balancing marquee high-speed projects with the everyday rail needs of the wider region.