Delhi to Kashi in under four hours: the bullet-train corridor that is planned to end at Manduadih

Of the seven high-speed rail corridors India has on the drawing board, the one that matters most to Banaras is also the one that has travelled furthest through the paperwork — and its last station is ours. The proposed Delhi–Varanasi corridor runs 865 km from Sarai Kale Khan–Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi to Manduadih, crossing 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh on the way. The route reads like a pilgrim's itinerary written by an engineer: Jewar, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Kannauj, Lucknow, Raebareli, Prayagraj and Bhadohi, with 12 to 13 stations planned in all and a separate 135-km spur proposed from Lucknow to Ayodhya. The line is designed for a top speed of 350 kmph and commercial running of up to 320 kmph, which would put Delhi roughly three hours and fifty-five minutes from Kashi — against more than ten hours on today's fastest express. For a city whose visitors currently arrive off an overnight train or a morning flight, that is a different kind of day trip. It is worth being clear about where the project actually stands. The detailed project report went in back in October 2020 and the LiDAR surveys along the alignment are done, but no construction date or opening year has been announced, and the estimated cost sits somewhere between ₹1.21 lakh crore and ₹1.71 lakh crore. Nothing is running yet. But on paper, at least, Banaras is the end of the line — in the best sense.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: Business Today