The Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor has reached a significant construction milestone with the successful installation of one of its heaviest structural components in Gujarat. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (April 8) announced that a massive girder weighing approximately 1,360 metric tonnes was launched at Maninagar, showcasing steady progress in the ambitious project.
Sharing the update on X, the minister noted that the installation was completed within just 3.5 hours, underlining the efficiency achieved in executing complex engineering tasks. The 508-km Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor is India’s first bullet train project and remains one of the country’s most closely monitored infrastructure developments.
As per the January flash report released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the project has achieved over 58 per cent physical progress. It is being tracked under the ministry’s Project Assessment Infrastructure Monitoring and Analytics for Nation Building portal.
Financially, the project has already seen an expenditure of more than Rs 87,755 crore, against an initial estimated cost of around Rs 1.08 lakh crore. However, projections suggest the final cost could rise to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore. The Railways is expected to absorb this increase without seeking additional funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which has financed a substantial portion of the project.
Earlier, Vaishnaw had indicated that India’s first bullet train would begin operations with a 100-km stretch between Surat and Vapi by August 2027, with full corridor completion targeted by 2029.
“A significant milestone is that the bullet train will cover the distance between Ahmedabad and Mumbai in just 1 hour 58 minutes upon the completion of the high-speed rail corridor. The inaugural run in August 2027 will cover 100 km between Surat and Vapi,” Vaishaw said.
The trains are expected to operate at speeds of up to 320 kmph. With four stops, the journey between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will take 1 hour 58 minutes, while halts at all 12 stations will extend travel time to 2 hours 17 minutes.
“The bullet train will cover the distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in 1 hour 58 minutes with four stops. However, if it halts at all 12 stations, the total journey time will be 2 hours 17 minutes,” Vaishnaw said.
The corridor will be commissioned in phases, covering sections such as Vapi–Surat, Vapi–Ahmedabad, and Thane–Ahmedabad, before the final Mumbai–Ahmedabad stretch becomes operational by December 2029.
Source: Swarajya
