Karnataka plans bullet trains to Mysore, Chennai

Karnataka plans to operate bullet trains from Bangalore to Mysore and Chennai, with the help of Japanese technology and funds, to decongest the city and facilitate speedy intra and inter-state travel, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Monday.

"I have invited Japanese experts for discussions with Indian Railways and our officials to explore introducing bullet trains initially between Bangalore and Mysore and Chennai to provide high-speed travel between intra and inter-cities," Siddaramaiah said on return from a week-long visit to China Sunday.

During the China visit from Sep 9-15 to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Dalian in the northeastern Liaoning province, Siddaramaiah met Japanese Science and Technology Minister Hakubun Shimomura and discussed on getting his country's technical and financial support for the high-speed trains and infrastructure corridors.

"As Japan was the first country in the world to introduce bullet trains and operate them successfully since the sixties (1960s), I am sure their experts will be able guide us in having similar high-speed travel in the state as it will help us to decongest Bangalore," Siddaramaiah said.

Cruising at 300 km per hour, a bullet train will cover the 150 km distance from Bangalore to Mysore in 30 minutes and Chennai, which is 360 km away, in over an hour.

"We are exploring the possibility of having high-speed trains to tier-two cities like Mysore, Hubli and Mangalore in the state and cities like Chennai outside the state for fast movement of people and goods. A bullet train will bridge the travel time between Bangalore and Mysore leading to their development as twin cities," Siddaramaiah said.

The chief minister invited Shimomura to participate in the third Global Investors' Meet (GIM) the state government will hold in Bangalore in October 2014 to attract global investments across the state in diverse sectors.