Bridge on Kolak river ready for bullet train, work going on fast ahead; know when this train will run
Bullet Train: The country's first bullet train was targeted to be run by 2022. Due to delays in land acquisition and tender, it is now expected to start by 2026. The first bullet train has been targeted to run between Surat and Bilmora. Work has been expedited for this.
The work to run the bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad is going on at a fast pace. National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited has constructed a long bridge of a 160-meter span in the Kolak River in the Valsad district of Gujarat. Nine out of 24 bridges in the 508 km long corridor over rivers have been constructed so far, the officials said. Preparations are underway for running the first bullet train by 2026.
On 14 July 2017, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project was launched in Gujarat by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this, a bullet train will run from Mumbai to Ahmedabad. This train will cover the 508 km distance between the two cities in three and a half hours. The financial cost of the bullet train project is about Rs 1.08 lakh crores. It will cost Rs 10 thousand crore in spending by the central government. Maharashtra and Gujarat governments are to spend Rs 5 thousand crore each. Japan will give the remaining at an interest rate of 0.1 percent. The target was to run the country's first bullet train by 2022, but due to delays in land acquisition and tender, it is now expected to start only by 2026. Now, the aim is fixed for running the first bullet train between Surat and Bilmora. Work has been expedited regarding this.
The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited has recently successfully constructed a bridge over the Kolak River in Gujarat. On this river, 40-meter-long girders have been placed in between Vapi and Bilmora. The officials said that the Kolak River originates from the Satpura hills near Valveri and merges into the Arabian Sea. This river is located 7 km away from the Vapi railway station and 43 km from Bilmora railway station.
Officials say that bridges have been built on Paar and Auranga in Valsad, Purna, Mindhola, Ambika, and Vengania in Navsari, Mohar in Kheda, and Dhadhar river in Vadodara. Construction of bridges is going on on the Narmada, Tapti, Mahi, and Sabarmati rivers.
Officials said that the 508 km corridor would have 12 stations. Of these, eight would be in Gujarat and four in Maharashtra. These would be at Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, and Bilmora in Gujarat and Basar, Virar, Thane, and Mumbai in Maharashtra. The construction work of the stations is also going on at a fast pace. In eight stations of Gujarat, the foundation has been made. Officials said that the work of 350 meter long mountain tunnel in Valsad's Jaroli village has been completed. At the same time, work on the country's first 7 km long tunnel to be built under the sea has also started. According to NHSRCL, a 21 km long tunnel is to be built between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra.
