The ‘Make in India’ initiative is powering the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project, with installation of overhead electrification masts progressing along the high-speed corridor, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Underlining the role of indigenous manufacturing and execution in India’s first bullet train corridor, Vaishnaw said, “‘Make in India’ is powering the Bullet Train project. Installation of overhead electrification masts is progressing well on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor”.
According to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) – the implementing agency for the Rs 1.08 lakh crore project – significant progress has been made across civil works, track, electrification and tunnelling.
The total length of the corridor is 508 km, comprising 352 km in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 156 km in Maharashtra. The project includes 12 thematically designed bullet train stations – Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora and Vapi in Gujarat, and Boisar, Virar, Thane and Mumbai in Maharashtra.
NHSRCL said 332 km of viaduct and 415 km of pier work has been completed. Seventeen river bridges – including 5 PSC bridges and 12 steel bridges – are complete. More than 4.9 lakh noise barriers have been installed along a 245 km stretch.
Track-related work includes completion of 292 track km, equivalent to 146 route km, of RC track bed construction. On electrification, around 4,800 overhead electrification masts have been installed, covering approximately 111 route km of the mainline viaduct.
In Maharashtra, tunnel construction is underway at multiple locations. Of the seven mountain tunnels planned in Palghar district, breakthrough has been achieved for the first tunnel, while excavation work continues on the remaining six. Additionally, 5 km of the 21 km NATM tunnel between BKC and Shilphata has been excavated.
Construction of rolling stock depots at Surat and Ahmedabad is in progress. Superstructure work on all stations in Gujarat is at an advanced stage. In Maharashtra, work has commenced on all three elevated stations, and base slab casting is in progress at the Mumbai underground station.
