New Delhi, May 19: The Indian Railways has unveiled the design photo of the country’s much-awaited and first bullet train. The image of the proposed bullet train is displayed at Gate 4 of the Railway Ministry in New Delhi.
Informing the Lok Sabha last February, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had said that the 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project will pass through Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Total 12 stations
There will be a total of 12 stations on this high-speed rail route. The bullet train will stop at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.
Where did the work come from?
Construction of stations: Foundation work of 8 stations including Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Sabarmati in Gujarat has been completed. Work is in progress in Thane and Virar in Maharashtra.
Undersea tunnel station: The earth excavation work of Bandra Kurla Complex station in Mumbai. 91% has been completed. In addition, the construction work of the undersea tunnel has begun.
Construction of bridges: The construction work of 17 river bridges has been completed along the route. The bridge works on the major rivers of Gujarat such as Narmada, Mahi, Tapti and Sabarmati rivers are in the final stage. Construction of 4 river bridges is also underway in Maharashtra.
Swadeshi train under ‘Make in India’
According to the information of the Railway Department, this project will increase the capacity of domestic high-speed trains. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Integral Coach Factory, Chennai and BEML, Bengaluru are jointly developing train sets that can run at a speed of 280 kmph.
100% land acquisition completed
A total of 1,389.5 hectares of land required for the project has been fully acquired. The minister clarified that as per the government’s laws and regulations, appropriate compensation, additional allowance and rehabilitation have been provided to the victims in coordination with the two state governments.