By the end of 2027, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is anticipated to start service in Gujarat and eventually expand to Maharashtra.
According to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the first phase is probably going to start before the 2027 Gujarat Assembly election.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train To Start Service in Gujarat by 2027
Trial runs are anticipated to begin in 2026 along a 50-kilometer stretch between Surat and Bilimora. Commercial activities will commence in Gujarat due to its considerable advancement, and then they will spread to Maharashtra.
Ninety percent of the 508 km long train track will be elevated.
The corridor will have twelve stations: four in Maharashtra (Boisar, Virar, Thane, and Mumbai) and eight in Gujarat (Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora, and Vapi).
By 2027, operations between Vadodara and Vapi are scheduled to start. By the latter part of 2028, the NHSRCL hopes to have finished the project in its entirety. The three-hour trip between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be made possible by the bullet train.
At five and a half hours, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Vande Bharat is now the fastest train on this route. Currently, it takes approximately 95 minutes to fly between these two locations.
44% Project Finished by May 2024
44% of the project is finished as of May 2024; 53% of it is in Gujarat and 25.6% of it is in Maharashtra.
313 kilometers of pier work and 183 km of viaduct have been finished out of the 508 km course. 960 hectares of land in Gujarat, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 430 hectares in Maharashtra have been acquired for the project.
With more than 35,000 metric tonnes of rails and three pieces of track construction equipment in Surat and Vadodara, track laying in Gujarat has started.
In Maharashtra, work is now ongoing on a 7-km section of the 21-km tunnel that will connect Bandra Kurla Complex and Shilphata. This is India’s first underwater rail tunnel. By the middle of 2028, the underwater tunnel should be finished.
In Palghar, excavation is now taking place for five mountain tunnels. Due to COVID-19 limits and difficulties in Maharashtra with land acquisition, the original project deadline of December 2023 was rescheduled.
With an estimated cost of Rs. 1.08 lakh crore, the project is sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through Official Development Assistance (ODA). However, due to delays, the final cost has not yet been altered.
The Union government and JICA agreed a final funding tranche in December 2023, totaling 400 billion Japanese yen, or around Rs. 22,627 crore.
