Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel conducted a detailed review of the work being done in the state as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project. In Ahmedabad, the CM met with Satish Agnihotri, Managing Director of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), and other officials.
The review meeting was attended by Chief Principal Secretary to the CM K Kailashnathan and Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar, who gave a detailed presentation on the project’s progress.
In Gujarat, a total of 352 km, or 98 percent of the project’s required land, has been acquired. Civil work has already begun along the 343-kilometer stretch.
Agnihotri stated during his presentation that substructure and superstructure works are underway in eight districts of Gujarat, namely Ahmedabad, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, and Valsad. Bridges are being built across major rivers such as the Narmada, Tapi, and Mahi that run alongside the bullet train route. To boost the project, a full span box girder is being built using heavy equipment such as a straddle carrier and a bridge gantry.
The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor is a high-speed rail line under construction that connects India’s economic capital, Mumbai, with the city of Ahmedabad. It will be India’s first high-speed rail line when completed.
On September 14, 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the groundwork for the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project. The project’s initial completion date is December 2023. The bullet trains are expected to travel the 508 km stretch in about two hours at a speed of 350 km per hour. Trains currently operating on the route take over seven hours to travel the distance, whereas flights take about an hour.