Since this train will serve Mumbai, it will serve as a supplement to aircraft service between the two cities. However, it is still pork, because it’s serving PM Modi’s home state of Gujarat, rather than providing service between Mumbai and Pune, or Mumbai and Hyderabad, either of which would probably see higher usage.
California should have just hired Japanese companies to build a bullet train for part of the West Coast, following existing RR lines.
It would have been much, much cheaper, than the 60-70 billion “train to nowhere” high speed rail project; and would likely be in operation
by now.
Please check the data before commenting. Amd-mumbai has no seats available despite more than 17 1000-seater trains in each direction + 15 or so 180 seater flights each way. In the vacation and marriage "seasons" more than 500+ 35 seater buses ply each day, charging much more than the higher class railway fares. Plus hundreds of nonscheduled buses which pack in 50 or more passengers. And this is not counting majority of the passengers from Anand, Nadiad, Baroda and Surat ! all of whom will be connected to the bullet train. The Amd-Mumbai stretch of National Highway is the busiest in India, even though huge amounts of sea freight has now shifted to Gujarats ports, decongesting the Mumbai highway.
Mumbai-Pune about 120 km - 75 miles - is easily connected by the new expressway, Mumbai - Hyderabad is too long a distance for too few passengers for the first train. Even Mumbai - Bangalore will come up before Mumbai - Hyderabad. Also note that there is little or no space on the central line in Mumbai for the station.