Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s much-awaited Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train will run in Gujarat by the end of 2027 and then in Maharashtra, according to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).
The initial phase of operations will be in full swing before Gujarat goes to the polls in December 2027.
Trial runs between Surat and Bilimora are expected to begin in 2026. “Given the advanced stage of construction in Gujarat, it makes sense to start commercial services here before expanding to Maharashtra,” said an NHSL spokesperson.
As of May 2024, the total progress of the project is 44%, with Gujarat work being 53% complete and Maharashtra work being 25.6% complete. The viaduct work is up to 183 km and the pier work is up to 313 km.
1,390 hectares (960 hectares in Gujarat, Dadra, and Nagar Haveli and 430 hectares in Maharashtra) of land has been acquired for the rail corridor.
Track laying work has begun in Gujarat, using over 35,000 metric tonnes of rails and state-of-the-art track construction machinery in Surat and Vadodara. This machinery is being assembled, tested, and commissioned, Reports The Hindu.
The project will be financed through an Official Development Assistance (ODA) agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The latest financial tranche, valued at 400 billion Japanese Yen (about Rs 22,627 crore), was signed in December 2023.
India’s First Bullet Train Project
The high-speed rail, running at a speed of 320 kmph, will cover the 508.17 km distance from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in just two hours.
It will run 155.76 km in Maharashtra, 4.3 km in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 348.04 km in Gujarat, where there will be 12 stations. There are eight stations in Gujarat: Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora and Vapi. There are four stations in Maharashtra: Boisar, Virar, Thane, and Mumbai.
NHSCL aims to start the section between Vadodara and Vapi by 2027 and complete the entire project by the second half of 2028.
India’s First Undersea Tunnel
The MAHSR corridor will pass through a seven-kilometer-long undersea tunnel, which will be the country’s longest rail transport corridor, with a tube diameter of 13.2 meters.
The 21-kilometre-long tunnel will be built between Thane Creek (a distance of about 35 kilometers) and underground stations at Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra.
The deepest point of the tunnel will be 114 meters below Parsik hill near Shilphata, which will be about 25 to 65 meters below ground level.
In September 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe inaugurated the high-speed rail project in Sabarmati, Ahmedabad.