Mumbai-Ahmedabad travel time likely to get shorter from March

From March 2024, you can save around two hours on travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad as the Western Railway (WR) is in the final stage of an infrastructure and engineering upgrade, which, once completed, would allow trains to run at a speed of up to 160 km per hour

From March 2024, you can save around two hours on travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad as the Western Railway (WR) is in the final stage of an infrastructure and engineering upgrade, which, once completed, would allow trains to run at a speed of up to 160 km per hour. At present, trains between the two cities take around six to eight hours.

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WR is carrying out work on two corridors - Mumbai to Nagda and Vadodara to Ahmedabad at a cost of ₹3,950 crore.

Thirteen out of the 15 works on the Virar-Surat stretch had been completed, WR officials said and added these include improving the quality of rail tracks, lifting tracks wherever needed, cushioning tracks with sufficient ballasts (stones placed on rail lines), improving sleepers, and rehabilitating foot and road overbridges.

The remaining work will be completed soon, an official said. “The remaining work is on the Surat-Vadodara and Vadodara-Ahmedabad stretches which we aim to complete this month. We will then seek approvals from the Commissioner of Railway Safety.”

As per the listed speed restrictions owing to the heavy suburban train system, long-distance trains can run at 100 kmph on the Mumbai Central-Borivali stretch and at 110 kmph on the Borivali-Virar route. From Virar to Ahmedabad, these trains can reach a speed of 160 kmph.

To augment safety on this route, WR has finished installing metal beam fencing across 557km – a first on Indian Railways – and constructed pre-stressed concrete wall along 75km, another WR official said.

“Trains with LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches will have the potential to run at 160 kmph. We are yet to chart out a detailed plan of the trains and prepare a revised timetable on this route,” the official said.

Every day, WR operates at least 60 trains on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, which also include those that go further. Some trains like Vande Bharat, Shatabdi and Rajdhani will benefit from this infrastructure upgrade.

As part of a larger plan, the entire 1,479 km Mumbai-Delhi corridor will be made fit to accommodate trains operating at 160 kmph. Other railway zones – West Central Railway, North Central Railway and Northern Railway – are also carrying out works, thus taking the total cost of the project to ₹8,095 crore.

This 160 kmph semi high-speed corridor is part of the Centre’s ‘Mission Raftaar’ project that was approved in 2017-18.