Amaravati to Hyderabad in 70 minutes: Railway min Ashwini Vaishnaw sets 7–8 year timeline for South’s bullet train network

Hyderabad to Amaravati in just 70 minutes, and on track within seven to eight years. That’s the pitch from Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as he outlined plans for proposed bullet train corridors connecting key cities in Andhra Pradesh at the Google AI data centre launch in Visakhapatnam.

The minister laid out indicative travel times for proposed bullet train corridors in the south: Amaravati to Chennai in about 112 minutes, and Hyderabad to Pune in under two hours, alongside the 70-minute Hyderabad–Amaravati link.

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He also announced that the Union Government will officially notify the South Coast Railway Zone (SCoR), which is to be headquartered in Visakhapatnam on June 1 this year.

Sharing the stage, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu framed the high-speed rail push as central to building a tightly integrated southern economic corridor. The broader plan, he said, is to connect Amaravati, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru.

"He (Ashwini Vaishnaw) has promised me he will complete the bullet trains within 7-8 years promised. All four cities will be connected. If they connect these four cities, one can reach anywhere in south India in an hour or so, and it will create a huge economy. He's told me he's also working on renovating all railway stations," Naidu said.

Vaishnaw also said during his speech that 74 railway stations are being mordernised in Andhra Pradesh, and 832 flyovers and underpasses are being constructed along with 1,039 kilometres of new railway lines being laid.

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The announcements came alongside a sharp increase in railway allocations to Andhra Pradesh. Vaishnaw said the state now receives ₹10,134 crore in the Union Budget, up from ₹886 crore earlier when Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were combined.

Naidu has consistently pitched high-speed rail as a catalyst for regional growth. During his previous tenure, he had proposed similar bullet train corridors linking southern metros, though those plans saw limited progress.