Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train: 3rd River Bridge Between Vapi And Bilimora Stations Ready; 9th in Gujarat

The work on the bridge on Kolak river in Valsad for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor (MAHSR) has been completed. This is the ninth river bridge in Gujarat for the project and third between Vapi and Bilimora bullet train stations.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project has a total of 24 river bridges in Gujarat alone. Apart from Kolak river bridge, the other completed bridges are on Par river in Valsad, Purna, Mindhola, Venganiya and Ambika rivers in Navsari district, Auranga in Valsad, Mohar in Kheda district and Dhadhar in Vadodara. Work on other bridges on Narmada, Tapti, Mahi and Sabarmati are in progress.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said that the latest bridge is 160 meters long and consists of four full span girders, 40 meters each.

“This bridge is between Vapi and Bilimora Bullet Train station. Other completed rivers between two stations are Auranga and Par River. The (Kolak) river originates from Saputara hills near Valveri and meets in the Arabian sea. Lolak river is seven kms from Vapi Bullet Train station and 43 kms from Bilimora Bullet Train station,” it added.

Earlier this month, News18 had reported that the foundation work on all eight stations in Gujarat for India’s first bullet train has been completed. The eight stations in the state are: Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati.

The river bridge for this project on the Narmada river will be the longest followed by the Tapi and Mahi rivers.

The work on the project started in September 2017. Initially it was expected that it would be completed by December 2023. However, it is delayed and now one of the stretches can be started around 2026. In March, Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that they are expecting that the bullet train services between Surat and Bilimora will start by 2026.

The total length of the project is 508 km covering 12 stations across three states – 156 km in Maharashtra, 4 km in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 384 km in Gujarat.

The high-speed trains on the corridor will operate at a speed of 320 km/hour. As per the plans, there will be 35 trains per day from one direction, with a frequency of 20 minutes in peak hours and 30 minutes in non-peak hours. It is a limited stop project and the operational control centre for the corridor will be located at Sabarmati.