 | « Back to article | Print this article |
The ongoing Bullet Train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad has achieved significant progress with the completion of 386 km of pier foundation and 272 km of viaduct out of total 508 km of length as on February 27, 2025, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited said on Monday, adding the track laying work is yet to start.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Ahmedabad earlier on Saturday (March 1) to review its progress and expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction work.
According to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, besides the completion of 386 km of pier foundation work, 372 km of pier work has been made ready and girder casting has also been done on 305 kms.
Pier foundation is the first stage under which a base is dug out for a large-diameter cylindrical column under the ground and when this column is erected above the ground using concrete and metal it is called pier work, experts engaged in civil engineering work said.
According to experts, a concrete superstructure, placed on the top of two piers to connect them, is known as girder casting and once a series of such structures are made ready, it is called viaduct.
The NHSRCL said that 305 km of girder casting has been completed and track bed, on which the track will finally be fixed, has also been laid up to 112 km in Gujarat.
Overhead electrification work started in Gujarat, said a press statement from the NHSRCL.
The officials said that though the track laying work hasn't been started yet, it will happen soon as all other associated infra work is ready now.
The total length of the project is 508 km out of which 352 km falls in Gujarat and Dadar & Nagar Haveli and the remaining 156 km is in Maharashtra.
12 stations, which have been planned are Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati, the press note said.
Structural work is completed for six out of eight stations in Gujarat and work has started on three elevated stations in Maharashtra.
So far the 12th station, ie, Mumbai is concerned, its base slab is being cast, it added.
According to the NHSRCL, there are 13 river bridges along the 508 km route and all of them have been made ready.
Bridges on three rivers such as Par, Auranga and Kolak in Valsad district and six rivers such as Purna, Mindhola, Ambika, Venganiya, Kaveri and Kharera in Navsari district are ready.
The other three rivers like Mohar, Vatrak, Meshwa in Kheda district and one river Dhadhar in Vadodara district also have bridges made ready within a record span of time, the NHSRCL officials said.
Six steel bridges and five prestressed concrete bridges are also ready at various places where the bullet train is crossing roads and highways.
Besides, noise barriers have been installed on both sides over 130 km along the route, they added.
The officials also said that there are seven mountain tunnels along the route in Maharashtra's Palghar district and all of them are under construction through New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
Updating the progress of the 21 km tunnel between Bandra Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra, out of which the 7 km stretch is under the sea at Thane Creek, the NHSRCL officials said that the work is progressing significantly.