IRCTC takes tourists across cherry blossom country for taste of bullet train travel

MUMBAI: Nearly 30 people from Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore got a taste of travels on the bullet train between two stretches in Japan – Osaka to Hiroshima and Hiroshima to Tokyo – recently, thanks to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). This was a part of the Indian Railways’ endeavour to promote the country’s ambitious, albeit delayed, bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It was the government PSU’s first such trip after the title of ‘Navratna’ was conferred on it by the Centre in March, 2025, by virtue of which it will have financial autonomy and scope for global expansion.

The tourists got a glimpse of how Shinkansen trainsets zip on the high-speed corridor between two cities. While the 11-day tour ended on April 6, two more are in the pipeline – one in October this year, and another in March 2026.

“We wanted to provide tourists the experience of taking the bullet train. This led us to plan two routes for our patrons. The longer route on Hiroshima to Tokyo covered over 800 kms, which actuated the thrill of taking a high-speed rail. The cost of travel in such a train on the two routes was close to ₹20,000 which was part of our package,” an official from IRCTC told HT.

Anand Prakash Gupta, a 72-year-old CA from Breach Candy, who took the trips, said, “It was a truly electrifying experience. Travelling on the superfast was very comfortable. The country certainly needs this form of rail transport; it should have come up years earlier. I know, work is underway for Mumbai which is need of the hour.”

Those in the know from the Indian Railways said that private tour operators usually take tourists in a coach or intercity buses. Apart from the bullet train ride, the tourists enjoyed Cherry Blossom tour, visited Mount Fuji, cruised on Lake Ashi, visited the SC Maglev Railway Park, Hiroshima Bomb Museum among other sites of interest. Similar packages for Japan have been planned from other Indian cities as well.

A top railway official, who did not wish to be named, said: “This is a good way to introduce the need for a bullet train in our country. The first project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is under-construction.”

Recently Japan had announced that it would donate two Shinkansen train sets -- the E5 and E3 series -- to aid in the testing and inspection of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor. The donated trains are expected to arrive in early 2026 and will be retrofitted with specialised inspection tools. Their primary role will be to gather critical operational data, especially concerning India’s challenging environmental conditions such as extreme heat and dust.