The state’s first village where a train will travel through a tunnel in the hills is Jaroli in Gujarat’s Valsad district. The 508-kilometer Bullet Train project from Gujarat to Maharashtra is being worked on by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), and construction on the 350-meter-long hill tunnel is already well underway.
In Jaroli village, Umargam taluka, close to Vapi, a tunnel is being constructed in the hill, according to information provided by NHSRCL. This tunnel has so far been completed for about 67 metres.
The construction company has assigned skilled personnel and modern machinery to this task. The building of pillars to allow trains to travel this route at high speeds has begun.
The project will become a significant Gujarat tourist attraction once it is finished. Mumbai and Vapi-Ahmedabad will serve as the two end stations for this route under the proposed train project.
Work on inside the tunnel
The train will cross over the bridges built on the rivers including Damanganga, Par and Kolak of this district. The work on all these bridge-tunnel-piers is going on at a very high speed.
As the area is a protected sanctuary for flamingos and the surrounding mangroves, the railway track will be built under the sea through a tunnel so as not to disturb the existing ecosystem.
Tunnel in the mountain
This tunnel will be the first sea tunnel and longest rail tunnel in India. The tunnel will be a 13.2 m-diameter tube that is built using advanced tunnelling techniques. Significantly, out of the high-speed bullet train’s 508.09 km total distance, 460.3 km will be travelled on a viaduct, 9.22 km on a bridge, and 25.87 km through tunnels.