Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday that they are confident of meeting the target of running the country’s first bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat in 2026 since good progress has been made in this direction.
Vaishnaw was in Surat to check on the progress of the government’s ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.
There has been good progress in the construction of infrastructure for the bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, and the work is being done at a high speed.
“We are keeping the target of running the first bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in 2026. The progress is very good, and we are confident of running the train by that time,” he told reporters.
Bilimora is a town in Navsari district of south Gujarat.
The project is aimed at running the bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai on a high speed rail (HSR) corridor at a speed of 320 kmph, covering a distance of 508 km and 12 stations. The train is expected to reduce the travel time between the two cities to about three hours from the current six hours.
Asked about the progress of the bullet train project in neighbouring Maharashtra, Vaishnaw said it was slow due to land acquisition issues. He said Maharashtra should work with the spirit of cooperation and collaboration on the project.
“This is a national project and there should not be any politics over it,” he said.
“I believe we would set an example of working together on this project…The progress (in Maharashtra section) is slow. We hope there will be more progress,” he said.
However, the 352 km section in Gujarat is also long enough, he said, adding that the focus will remain on Gujarat until the land acquisition work in Maharashtra is completed.
Under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, the central government is working with the spirit of service and development for all, he said.