The proposed Delhi-Varanasi bullet train project, which will pass through Jewar in Uttar Pradesh, is expected to reduce the travel time between Jewar and Lucknow to about 1 hour and 40 minutes, while the total journey from Delhi to Lucknow will take about 2 hours and 10 minutes, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnao said on Saturday.
The project was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2026-27. Meanwhile, construction of India’s first bullet train corridor linking Mumbai and Ahmedabad is already underway.
Vaishnau on Delhi-Jewar-Lucknow-Varanasi bullet train project
Speaking at an event in Jewar on Saturday, Vaishnaw said the proposed bullet train between Delhi and Varanasi will reduce travel time across Uttar Pradesh once it is operational.
He said the journey from Delhi to Lucknow will take about 2 hours and 10 minutes, while passengers traveling from Jewar to Lucknow will complete the journey in about 1 hour and 40 minutes, Hindustan reported.
“Just as the Ganges flows, the bullet train will run in the same way,” he was quoted in several media reports as saying.
Vaishnao also said that the proposed bullet train corridor between Delhi, Lucknow and Varanasi will transform connectivity in Uttar Pradesh and will provide a major boost to industrial and economic development.
Earlier in April, Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh met Vaishnau and requested a high-speed rail link to the newly opened Noida International Airport.
It is worth noting that commercial flight operations at Noida Airport began on June 15. The airport, built on an area of 1,300 hectares in Jewar, is expected to handle about 12 million passengers annually during its first phase.
It has also become the second largest airport in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi, and is the busiest airport in the country. Once all phases are completed, the airport is expected to serve up to 70 million passengers annually.
Within the proposed project
The Delhi-Varanasi high-speed rail corridor is one of the seven new bullet train projects announced in the Union Budget 2026-27. The corridor extends approximately 813 kilometers, and is scheduled to connect several major cities.
Apart from the Delhi-Varanasi route, other proposed high-speed rail corridors include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru and Varanasi-Siliguri.
Officials believe that the Delhi-Varanasi corridor will play a major role in improving connectivity between the national capital and one of the major religious destinations in the country.
Railway officials had earlier told HT that the proposed stations along the route are expected to include Delhi, Noida, Jewar Airport, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Kannauj, Raebareli, Prayagraj, New Bhadohi, Lucknow and Varanasi, connecting the political, religious and industrial centers of Uttar Pradesh.
