In a spectacular act of diplomacy and kindness, Japan has given India its first two high-speed bullet trains for free. Each train, estimated at Rs 300 crore, raises the total worth of this gesture to Rs 600 crore, or approximately 10 billion yen. These cutting-edge trains, built using Japan’s world-renowned Shinkansen E5 Series technology, represent a growing relationship between the two countries.
The trains are headed to India’s ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project. This 508-kilometre corridor will be the country’s first step into bullet train infrastructure. Japan has long backed the project, with the Japan International Cooperation Agency providing 81% of the money through a 50-year soft credit at a nominal interest rate of 0.1%.
The newly gifted trains, stationed at Gujarat’s Sabarmati Depot, will be used to train crew, undertake technical trials, and fine-tune safety protocols before public operations begin. They can reach speeds of up to 320 km/h and will also play an important role in familiarising Indian engineers with the Shinkansen ecosystem.
Trial runs over a 50-kilometer length are expected by the middle of 2026. With almost 250 km of pillars currently in place, the full corridor is expected to be completed by 2028.
