The land acquisition for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR), commonly known as the bullet train project, has been completed across Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.
In a post on X on Monday, he said the land acquisition is 100% while pier casting has been done across 268.5 km and girder launching 120.4 km. He added the 1389.49 hectares of land required for the project was acquired.
The ambitious Japan-backed project has been delayed due to earlier protests against land acquisition. It was sought to be completed by 2023. Of the 508.17 km of the project, 155.76 km is in Maharashtra, 384.04 km in Gujarat, and 4.3 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), which is overseeing the project, said all civil contracts have been awarded in Gujarat and Maharashtra. “The laying of [the] first Reinforced Concrete (RC) track bed for the MAHSR corridor track system as used in Japanese Shinkansen [bullet trains] has started in Surat and Anand. This is for the first time, the J-slab ballastless track system is being used in India,” NHSRCL said in a statement.
NHSRCL said it has achieved a “remarkable milestone” with the completion of the first 350 metres long and 12.6-wide mountain tunnel in Gujarat’s Valsad district in just 10 months.
{{/usCountry}}NHSRCL said it has achieved a “remarkable milestone” with the completion of the first 350 metres long and 12.6-wide mountain tunnel in Gujarat’s Valsad district in just 10 months.
{{/usCountry}}The first steel bridge spanning 70 metres and weighing 673 MT has been built across National Highway 53 in Gujarat’s Surat. “16 such bridges out of 28 are under various stages of fabrication,” NHSRCL said. It added the work for India’s first seven-kilometre undersea rail tunnel, which is part of a 21 km-long tunnel between BKC and Shilphata in Maharashtra, has commenced. “Excavation works for construction of Mumbai HSR station have been started,” NHSRCL said.
It added 28 crossings over national and state highways, irrigation canals, and railways (17 in Gujarat and 11 in Maharashtra) will be bridged by long-span steel structures. NHSRCL added the work at all eight stations in Gujarat were are under construction. In Maharashtra, the work for the Mumbai station has started.