The Indian Government is planning a Greenfield expressway that will connect the national capital to the financial capital, cutting down travel time to about 12 hours. Besides passing through less-developed areas to cut overall distance, vehicles plying the expressway are expected to reach speeds of over 120kph, helping achieve this estimated travel time. Today, the 1,400km trip from Delhi to Mumbai passes through large stretches of Gujarat and Rajasthan and takes around 20 hours. Even the Rajdhani Express gets you from Delhi to Mumbai in 16 hours.
A similar (and higher than usual) speed limit is also expected to be mandated for another upcoming expressway that will connect Mumbai and Nagpur, reducing the travel time from the current 14 hours to eight. This rise in speed limits indicates that the upcoming expressways may have better quality tarmac compared to even the Yamuna Expressway and Agra-Lucknow Expressway that restricts speed to 100kph and 120kph, respectively.
The government has already started with the first phase of the road construction. According to the layout, the speedway will initially connect the Gurugram Ring Road to Jaipur and is expected to take around 15 months to complete. This will reduce the travel time between both the destinations from six hours to two. In the same phase of development, Mumbai will be connected to Vadodara, and then the next phase to connect Jaipur to Kota, and then Vadodara, is scheduled to begin later.
The expressway is planned under the Bharatmala Pariyojna programme and will pass through less-developed areas, said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Trasport and Highways. The government will not only save on the cost to acquire land in these areas as they are relatively cheaper, but this will also ensure less local traffic on the expressway, allowing drivers to maintain a consistent speed. Moreover, less traffic also means low risk of accidents.
Uday Singh
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
Viraaj Bhatnagar
