The construction of 12 out of 20 planned river bridges in Gujarat for the 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor has been completed, as reported by the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL). The most recent completion is a 120-meter bridge over the Kharera River in Navsari district, marking the conclusion of all nine bridges between Vapi and Surat. The bullet train project covers 352 km in Gujarat and 156 km in Maharashtra, linking 12 stations from Mumbai to Sabarmati, aiming to reduce travel time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to about three hours, down from 6-8 hours.
Construction has progressed across various locations, with bridges completed over rivers like Par, Purna, Mindhola, Ambika, Auranga, Kolak, Kaveri, and Venganiya, as well as over Dhadhar in Vadodara district and Mohar and Vatrak rivers in Kheda district. As of October 21, 2024, all 1,389.5 hectares of land required for the project have been acquired, and tenders for civil, depot, and track work in Gujarat have been awarded. Construction of all 12 stations is underway, along with work on a 21-km tunnel, including a 7-km undersea segment 36 meters below ground. Once completed, the tunnel will be India’s largest undersea tunnel, with a diameter of 12.1 meters for dual tracks.
Tunnel boring is progressing, with 16 km to be constructed using Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM), and the remaining 5 km by the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). Three shafts for TBM deployment are nearly finished, and NATM tunnel boring is active on three fronts to speed up the project’s timeline.
