Bengaluru: Amid the country’s ambitious high-speed rail push, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Sunday said India’s indigenous bullet train B-28’s design has been completed. Following an inspection at the Aditya plant in Bharat Earth Movers Limited’s Tippasandra facility, he said the first train will be rolled out in 2027.The progress has been positive, Vaishnaw told TOI, adding that the indigenous design has already completed a squeeze test. “When the train moves at very high speed, a layer of vacuum is created around it. The entire atmospheric pressure comes onto the coach. That’s why the squeeze test is important, and it has now been completed,” he said.After the squeeze test, B-28 will be integrated with interior furniture. Vaishnaw said the train will be exposed to various climatic conditions.He said a dedicated track has been created in BEML’s Bengaluru facility to test the bullet train. “It will be first tested on that track, then it will be taken to Surat depot where there are slightly longer tracks for other tests,” he added.Vaishnaw said that the construction of the first section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor between Surat and Bilimora, targeted for launch by Aug 15, 2027, will be completed within the next two months.“This train will go onto the track somewhere around April or May next year. The construction is going on at a very good pace, both towards Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Even the undersea tunnel, which is the first in our country, is being constructed,” the minister said.
