It was 2007 when Narendra Modi, as the Gujarat chief minister, first got a taste of the Japanese bullet train in his visit to that country. A dream was born when he saw the train from inside the cockpit and vowed to bring it to India one day. Twenty years later, in 2027, Modi’s home state Gujarat will become the first in the country to get such a bullet train.
On Saturday, PM Modi again rode in a Japanese bullet train, along with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba while on their way for a tour of the Tokyo Electron factory in Sendai. They were on board a Japanese Shinkansen new ALFA-X train. This is like the latest E10 series Shinkansen trains which Japan is planning to introduce in India as part of the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project, a flagship initiative of the India-Japan partnership.
Incidentally, Modi on Saturday visited the Tokyo Electron factory, a premier chip equipment manufacturing plant in the world, where another dream has been born. The prime minister had announced from the Red Fort on August 15 that India will get its first ‘Made in India’ chip by the end of this year. India is working on semiconductors in mission mode, with six different semiconductor units taking shape on the ground and green signal being given to four new units.
Bullet Train To be Reality
The visit has seen an understanding between both sides of the importance of the Indian bullet train project and the need to expedite the commencement of operations. Japan will deploy its latest signalling technology for installation and provide India with a set of E5 series Shinkansen rolling stock. The work on the 508-km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Train project is progressing fast with the Gujarat section nearing completion, and the eight stations in the state getting finishing touches.
The government recently told Parliament that the Gujarat section will be complete by December 2027, while the entire stretch will be ready by December 2029. If the government chooses to run the bullet train in the Gujarat section by December 2027, it will coincide with the Gujarat assembly elections that year and hence, will fulfill a long-standing promise to Gujarat by Narendra Modi.
Progress of the Project
The total length of the Indian high-speed corridor is 508 km—Gujarat & Dadar and Nagar Haveli is 352 km long, while Maharashtra is 156 km long. Twelve thematically designed Bullet Train stations—Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora, Vapi in Gujarat, and Boisar, Virar, Thane and Mumbai in Maharashtra—are coming up.
Viaduct construction of 317 km is complete, so are Pier works on 396 km, Pier Foundation on 407 km, and Girder Casting on 337 km. Bridges on 17 rivers have been completed, while eight steel bridges, first 100 m span of 2×100 m long steel bridge and five PSC (pre-stressed concrete) bridges are complete.
Installation of noise barriers on viaduct is underway in Gujarat. Around 3,90,000 noise barriers have been installed along a 195 km stretch.
Progress of around 198 track km of track bed construction has been achieved so far in Gujarat. Welding of rails on the viaduct to form long panels of 200 m length is also underway.
Installation of overhead equipment masts (OHE) is underway in Gujarat. More than 1,600 OHE masts have been installed between Surat-Bilimora Bullet Train stations which covers approx. 40 km of the mainline viaduct.
Work on 21 km tunnel between BKC and Shilphata in Maharashtra is in progress. Approximately 4.5 km tunnel heading has been achieved cumulatively from Shilphata and two concurrent faces from ADIT portal through the New Austrian Tunneling method.
Work on excavation of seven mountain tunnels is in progress in Palghar district, achieving a cumulative heading of 2 km out of 6 km. Structural work is complete for all eight stations in Gujarat. Building interior and finishing works are advancing rapidly. Work has started on all three elevated stations. While the base slab at Mumbai station is being cast in Maharashtra, the first slab casting for Virar and Boisar stations is complete.
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