Announcing a wave of rail infrastructure plans for West Bengal, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday (6 June) unveiled a bullet train project linking Delhi with Siliguri, the gateway to the northeast, India Today reported.

He said the corridor would cut travel time to just six hours from the current 20 hours.

The project will be India's second after the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, expected to begin operations next year.

"A bullet train project will come to West Bengal. It will connect Delhi and Siliguri via Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna," the Union Minister said.

During his Kolkata visit, where he also took a metro ride, Vaishnaw lauded Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for the poll victory and for "saving Bengal" from the Trinamool Congress, which he accused of stalling key projects.

He said railway works worth over Rs 1 lakh crore were under way in the state.