The Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced on Friday, February 23, that the first section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed bullet train is set to be completed by 2026. It will run from Billimora to Surat.
On a visit to Mumbai, at the Vikhroli site this afternoon, February 23, the minister revealed that once the construction of the Billimora-Surat route is completed, it will be tested with the Shinkansen train E5 series. Over 250 km of girders have already been installed in Gujarat. This marks significant progress on the project.
Vaishnaw initiated the first remote-controlled blasting for digging work at the tunnel in the Vikhroli shaft. However, the minister did not give a specific timeline for the opening of the entire 508-kilometre route.
Vaishnaw criticised the previous Maharashtra government for causing delays in the project. He stated that if the Uddhav Thackeray government had not halted the initiative, much work would have been completed in Maharashtra by now.
Deep excavation work for a 21-kilometre tunnel has begun at four points along the Mumbai railway line. Work is in the process at the entry locations to the subterranean rail tunnel, including Vikhroli, Thane, and Sawli near Ghansoli.
The deepest section of the tunnel, which will be 56 metres below the surface, will be located in Vikhroli. This land was provided by Godrej & Boyce to the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) in February 2023.
The construction of the tunnel will not begin until the entry points are prepared and the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are delivered. This will all take another year to happen.
Reports suggest that NHSRCL has reported that excavation work is currently ongoing at Vikhroli and that all piling work has been completed to 100%. Two TBMs will be lowered via the shaft, one towards BKC and the other towards Ghansoli.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad route is the only high-speed rail project in India that has been sanctioned, according to the Ministry of Railways. The project is being carried out with assistance from the Japanese government.
As per the operational plan, high-speed trains operating in the corridor will cover a distance of 508 km at a speed of 320 kilometres per hour, with halts at 12 stations. The ministry has scheduled 35 trains per day in each direction.
These trains will run in 20 minutes for peak hours and every 30 minutes for off-peak hours. The distance will take 1hour and 58 minutes with only a few stops (at Surat and Vadodara); with all stops, it would take 2 hours and 57 minutes.
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