India's High-Speed Rail On Track With Japan’s E10 Shinkansen Bullet Train

India is set to make it major debut in high-speed rail technology powered by Japan's next-gen E10 bullet train which will cover 508 kilometres (kms), inclusive of 352 kms in Gujarat, and 156 kms in Maharahstra.

The highly-anticipated  introduction of bullet train is slated for a glabl debut in 2030 to be used across the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor

The bullet train corridor ccomprises of 15 river bridges and will consolidate fresh standards in speed, safety, and operational capabilities in the south Asian nation.

The Rs 1.08 lakh crore bullet train project will see the Japenese E10 bullet trains in transit in India.

"In the spirit of strategic partnership between Japan and India, the Japanese government has agreed to introduce E10 Shinkansen trains in the project," according to an official statement.

Earlier, the status report mentioned that the bullet train project indicated that construction of 310 km of viaduct had been completed. Commercial services of India’s first bullet train project are scheduled to begin in 2027, whilst the initial prototype is expected to commence operations in 2026.

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Moving Beyond Japanese Technology, the Indian Railways is now also diversifying its approach to bullet train technology, moving beyond exclusive Japanese collaboration to include European and domestic partnerships.

A recent contract for comprehensive signalling and telecommunication systems has been granted to European technology providers working with Indian collaborators. Simultaneously, discussions continue with Japanese firms regarding Shinkansen trainset procurement.

Testing of E5 variant Shinkansen trainsets will check its suitability and help determine necessary adjustments for the E10 trainsets currently under development. The government has additionally commissioned Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to build a bullet train that can achieve speeds of 280 kmph. For this project, ICF has inked a partnership with the defence public sector company BEML to manufacture these high-speed trains.