India’s first high-speed rail corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is making steady headway, with fresh government data highlighting significant construction progress across the route.
As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) March monitoring report, the 508-km-long corridor has achieved 59.1% physical completion. The project is being tracked under MoSPI’s Project Assessment Infrastructure Monitoring and Analytics for Nation Building (PRAGATI-style) framework for key infrastructure initiatives.
Financially, the project has seen substantial investment, with expenditure crossing Rs 90,396 crore so far against an initial estimated cost of approximately Rs 1.08 lakh crore. However, revised projections suggest the total cost could rise to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore. Despite this escalation, Indian Railways is expected to absorb the additional burden without seeking further financial assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), its primary funding partner.
Earlier, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the first operational segment—covering a 100-km stretch between Surat and Vapi—is slated for launch in August 2027. This will mark the initial phase of the broader Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor, which is targeted for full completion by 2029.
Highlighting the impact of the project, Vaishnaw said, “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 designed to operate at speeds of up to 320 kmph. “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 rolled out in phases, beginning with sections like Vapi–Surat and Vapi–Ahmedabad, followed by Thane–Ahmedabad, before the entire Mumbai–Ahmedabad route becomes fully functional by December 2029.
Source: Swarajya
