LUCKNOW, Feb. 1 -- Two high-speed rail corridors passing through Uttar Pradesh promise to transform the state's economic landscape and religious tourism, with Lucknow emerging as a key station on a network that will connect Delhi to Varanasi in under four hours and link the holy city to Siliguri in less than three.

High-speed rail refers to trains travelling above 250 km per hour on dedicated tracks with specially designed infrastructure and rolling stock.

Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the details on Sunday in New Delhi, following Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget announcement of seven high-speed rail corridors. These include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Beng...