The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project has achieved another major construction milestone, with 209 km of track bed completed and 190 km of overhead electrification (OHE) masts installed, the Centre informed Parliament on Wednesday.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said significant progress has also been made on other civil works along the 508-km high-speed rail corridor. According to the update, construction of 452 km of piers has been completed, while girders have been launched across 356 km of the alignment.
India’s first high-speed rail corridor will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad through 12 stations located at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. The route passes through Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The minister also said work on the project’s approximately 21-km under-sea tunnel has commenced. Of this, 4.8 km of tunnelling between Ghansoli and Shilphata in Maharashtra has already been completed.
On the 97-km Surat-Vapi section, all civil works, including river bridge construction, have been completed, while nearly 86% of the track bed has been laid.
Nearly 90% of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor is being developed as an elevated alignment, with the remaining portion comprising tunnels, bridges and station infrastructure.
Earlier, Vaishnaw had announced that the country’s first bullet train service would begin operations on the 100-km Surat-Vapi stretch in August 2027. The entire 508-km corridor is expected to become operational by December 2029 in a phased manner.
Highlighting the project’s impact, the minister 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.”
The trains will operate at speeds of up to 320 kmph. Vaishnaw added, “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.”
The corridor will be commissioned in phases, beginning with the Vapi-Surat section, followed by Vapi-Ahmedabad and Thane-Ahmedabad, before the final Mumbai-Ahmedabad stretch becomes operational.
Source: Swarajya
