New Delhi: In a major boost to the bullet train proposal of Indian railways and easy to commuters, travel time from Chennai to Mysore via Bangaluru may cut down to more than five hours to just 2 hours 25 minutes in the coming future. The Germany government proposed a plan to run high-speed train between the two cities which is under approval by the government of India. According to a report by news agency PTI, a feasibility study for the 435 km route was submitted to Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani by German Ambassador Martin Ney on Thursday.

The report envisages covering the 435 km distance with a maximum speed of around 320 kmph resulting in an overall reduction in time between Chennai and Mysore from the present seven hours to two hours and twenty five minutes. “The study was both commissioned and financed by the German government. The route was found to be not only extremely viable but also prove to be the most effective solution to manage traffic growth,” the news agency quoted Ney as saying.

The report also highlights that the estimated infrastructure cost of the project would be around Rs 1 lakh crore along with an additional Rs 150 crore for rolling stock. The route - Chennai-Arakkonam-Bangalore-Mysore - will be 85 per cent elevated and have 11 per cent tunnels, said the report. The proposed bullet train will further reduce travel time between Chennai and Bangalore by 100 minutes and between Bangalore and Mysore by 40 minutes.

The Chennai-Arakkonam-Bangalore-Mysore route will be 85 per cent elevated and will include 11 per cent tunnels. While the feasibility report suggests that India integrate its existing conventional railway line with the high-speed line instead of a dedicated high-speed corridor in order to not only reduce costs but also minimise land acquisition issues, the Railway Board has reportedly rejected the plan stating that India's present network was too over-saturated and complicated for this.

“We are expecting that we will be able to ground some passengers from airlines when they see that the travel time has been reduced so drastically. Unless one lives near to the airport, trains will be faster than airlines once this kind of high-speed rail network is introduced,” Lohani said. The report also stated that after a planning period of three years and a construction period of nine years, the route will be operational by 2030.

Other routes on which feasibility studies are being conducted include New Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Nagpur and Mumbai-Nagpur.

(With agency inputs)