New Delhi: The Government of India has decided to introduce an indigenous bullet train and adopt an international signalling system for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor after Japan indicated that its next-generation E10 Shinkansen trains would not be available before 2034, according to a senior Railway Ministry official.
The decision marks a significant shift in the implementation strategy of India’s first high-speed rail project, which spans 508 kilometres between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Initially, Japan was expected to supply three key components for the project, the Shinkansen bullet trains, the signalling system, and the Operation Control Centre (OCC), while India undertook the civil construction work.
A senior Railway Ministry official stated that the Japanese side has not yet been able to provide formal offers for the E10 trains, signalling system, or OCC because the E10 train remains under development. The official added that the delay became evident in 2024, making it impossible to meet India’s planned timeline for operationalising the corridor.
The issue gained public attention after Hideki Makihara, Japan’s former Justice Minister and a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, criticised India’s approach to the project on social media. Makihara alleged that India’s decisions had slowed the progress of the bullet train project and claimed that the country had excluded Japan from supplying the crucial signalling system.
Responding to these claims, the Railway Ministry clarified that both India and Japan mutually agreed to revise the project’s technology plan after recognising that the E10 trains would not be available in time. Officials said feasibility studies, along with the experiences of countries such as Taiwan and South Korea, suggested that the first section of the MAHSR project could become commercially operational by August 2027. Waiting until 2034 for the Japanese trains would have significantly delayed the launch.
The ministry further explained that another factor influencing the decision was Japan’s gradual phasing out of the E5 series, which affected suppliers’ ability to provide suitable alternatives during the transition to the E10 platform.
India will now develop and deploy its own bullet trains while using the European Train Control System (ETCS), an internationally recognised open-standard signalling technology. Variants of ETCS are already in operation across several countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, China, and multiple European nations. The same technology has also been adopted for India’s Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project remains one of India’s flagship infrastructure initiatives aimed at modernising rail transportation, improving connectivity, and introducing world-class high-speed travel. Officials expressed confidence that the revised strategy would help keep the project on schedule while ensuring internationally accepted safety and operational standards.
