Vaishnaw says proposed bullet corridor could cut Delhi-Agra trip to 59 minutes

Delhi to Agra in 59 minutes is the headline promise of a proposed bullet train corridor approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. It is a planned journey time, not a service passengers can book today. Vaishnaw shared the figure in Varanasi before officials launched a separate overnight train between Varanasi and New Delhi. ^2,8

The 59-minute estimate sits within a proposed route stretching from Delhi through Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna and Siliguri, then on to Guwahati. Vaishnaw also gave an expected time of one hour and 45 minutes from Delhi to Kanpur, and two hours and 12 minutes from Delhi to Lucknow. He also gave an expected time of three hours and 35 minutes from Varanasi to Delhi. He said the project would use Indian workers and technology, but gave no construction timeline. ^2,8

That missing timeline matters: these are promised travel times for a future railway, not a near-term alternative to today’s trains. The announcement came as Varanasi welcomed a more immediate change, the country’s second Vande Bharat Sleeper service. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Vaishnaw launched it on Saturday. The overnight train is scheduled to cover about 760 kilometres, stopping at Prayagraj, Kanpur Central, Aligarh and Ghaziabad. It will take around nine and a half hours. ^1,4

That sleeper service is due to begin regular runs on Monday, November 2. It will leave Varanasi at 8:50 pm and reach New Delhi at 6:10 am; the return train leaves at 9:40 pm and arrives at 7:10 am. It will run six days a week, with Friday or Saturday off depending on direction. The bullet corridor, by contrast, still needs a timeline and further project details. ^1,12,13