Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe inaugurated India’s first bullet train project on Thursday morning.
The bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is expected to be completed by 2022 and is likely to traverse the distance of over 500 km between the two cities in around two hours.
"Dreams push a country, society or individual forward. I congratulate every citizen of India for the groundbreaking ceremony of India's first bullet train. It is human-friendly and eco-friendly," said PM Narendra Modi.
"Bullet train project is human-friendly and eco-friendly. The project provides ‘Suvidha' and 'Suraksha', it brings ‘Rozgar' and ‘Raftar," PM Modi tweeted.
Bullet train project is human friendly and eco friendly. The project provides ‘Suvidha' and 'Suraksha', it brings ‘Rozgar' and ‘Raftar.' pic.twitter.com/3NTV7vR2fC — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 14, 2017
"Mahatma Gandhi's fight for his country and equality started from a train. Then, the train was a symbol of the discrimination in society. Today, a train is bringing together two countries — India and Japan," added the Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.
India's first #BulletTrain project would be able to cover a 508-km stretch in under three hourshttps://t.co/x5EO6Cp5rG — News18 (@CNNnews18) September 14, 2017
As soon as the news hit the social media, the micro blogging site users were faster than the bullet train and cracked tons of jokes.
Life in the future with #BulletTrain - Finish work in Ahmedabad at 5pm. Reach Mumbai at 7pm. Put booze till 9pm. Back to Ahmedabad at 11pm. — Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) September 14, 2017
The Bullet Train is dream come true! Narendra Modi The last time he had a dream, we had demonetization! :D — Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) September 14, 2017
Dear Shinzo Abe Sir, if you get time, pls send the ticket fares to Kejriwal ji in advance so he can approve Bullet train. — Tajinder Bagga (@TajinderBagga) September 14, 2017
Had there been bullet train back in 90s, Simran would have to get married to Kuljeet instead of Raj. — Swagshank (@zZoker) September 14, 2017
Somewhere a Punjabi singer is writing a song about Bullet Trains. — Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) September 14, 2017
All this talk about Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Project & #BulletTrain has got me thinking what Raj Thackeray once said: 😂🚄🚆 pic.twitter.com/i5XvYCkp78 — Prerna Bakshi (@bprerna) September 14, 2017
Looking forward to the #BulletTrain. IRCTC has 5 years to ensure that the booking takes less time than the journey. — Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) September 14, 2017
Bullet train or no #BulletTrain .. bhai would still pull this off pic.twitter.com/aHNMtk6H42 — SwatKat (@swatic12) September 14, 2017
Citizens: What are you doing to fix potholes in Mumbai?" Government: Making bullet train to go to Ahmedabad — Azeem Banatwalla (@TheBanat) September 14, 2017
Some say the Bullet Train to Ahmedabad is actually a Ballot Train to Gandhinagar #bullettrain — Madhavan Narayanan (@madversity) September 14, 2017
My funda on the #BulletTrain between Mumbai & Ahmedabad pic.twitter.com/bSNK6CEptH — Atul Khatri (@one_by_two) September 14, 2017
After Bullet train, no more "ja jile apni jindagi" for Simran. Raj would reach Borivali by the time Amrish Puri completes the sentence. — Anuj Gupta (@anujg) September 14, 2017
The only bullet train India has is the one directed towards journalists and whistleblowers. — Sahil Shah (@SahilBulla) September 14, 2017
Abe Stopping Minister of Hugging affairs from reaching to hug his wife with bullet speed.(2017) pic.twitter.com/GPWeVaUOQA — History of India (@RealHistoryPic) September 14, 2017
Japs are so confident in their ability that they've given the exact date of bullet train - I fear they have underestimated Indian abilities — The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) September 14, 2017
And in case you were wondering, here's everything you need to know about the Bullet Train project in India.