In a significant development, the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has officially declared the completion of land acquisition for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Rail Corridor, popularly known as the bullet train project. This corridor, spanning across Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, reached a crucial milestone on January 8.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared the update on the progress of land acquisition during a recent announcement, disclosing that the entire 1389.49 hectares of land required for the project have been successfully secured. The high-speed rail connection, utilizing Japan’s Shinkansen technology, is currently under construction and is set to connect the bustling cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
A press release stated, “The laying of the first reinforced concrete [RC] track bed for the MAHSR corridor track system, as used in Japanese Shinkansen, has started in Surat and Anand. This is for the first time the J-slab ballastless track system is being used in India.”
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project aims to establish a cutting-edge, high-frequency mass transportation system, bringing a revolutionary change to India’s railway infrastructure.
Funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) through a soft loan of ₹88,000 crore from Japan, the ₹1.10 lakh crore project faced challenges in land acquisition, causing delays. Despite setbacks, the government has set an ambitious target to operate the first phase of the bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in south Gujarat by 2026.
As the land acquisition phase concludes, the focus now shifts towards expediting the construction process, marking a crucial step forward for one of India’s most ambitious and transformative infrastructure projects.
