New Delhi: Non-business-class passengers on the proposed bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will likely have to pay between Rs 250 and Rs 3,000 depending on their destination, a senior official said.

Based on "present projections and calculations", the fare will be Rs 3,000 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Rs 250 between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Thane, Achal Khare, managing director of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd, told reporters.

He said the 10-coach train would have a business-class compartment, where fares "are likely to be higher than Rs 3,000" and food will be complimentary. "The journey will be much more affordable and less time-consuming than a flight, if the trip to the airport, getting boarding passes and security checks are taken into consideration," he said.

An official said a taxi takes between an hour and 90 minutes to travel between Thane and the Bandra-Kurla Complex while charging around Rs 650. But the bullet train will take only 15 minutes and charge Rs 250.

He said the bullet train fares would be 1.5 times the standard AC first-class fares.

Khare said that safety and punctuality would be the hallmark of the bullet trains.

"As far as delays are concerned, it would not be more than 40 seconds." He said the project authority would directly employ some 3,000 to 4,000 people and hire around 30,000 to 40,000 workers during the construction phase.

Khare clarified that the Japanese component in the project would be only 18.6 per cent, limited to tasks such as building a corridor between Ahmedabad and Vadodara and tunnelling under the sea. PTI

"Indian contractors will build 460km, while Japan will be involved in the construction of only 21km under the sea," he said.

The bullet train is expected to be up and running by 2022. Khare said that 360 people from India would be sent to Japan for training. PTI