Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw today asserted that the first section of the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train will be operational by 2027.

Speaking to the media after the breakthrough of the Ghansoli and Shilphata tunnels in Navi Mumbai, he informed that the Thane section of the project will be completed by 2028, followed by the section up to the Bandra Kurla Complex the next year.

With the breakthrough, a stretch of 4.9 km of tunnel has now been completed between the Savali shaft and the Tunnel Portal at Shilphata, and the tunnel will now connect to the viaduct portion of the MAHSR project at Shilphata.

Mr Vaishnaw hailed the breakthrough of this NATM (New Austrian Tunnelling Method) tunnel as an important milestone in the bullet train project, as this 4.8 km tunnel is part of the 21 km undersea tunnel between BKC and Shilphata, which includes a 7 km stretch under Thane Creek.

He further informed that a viaduct of 320 km of this project has been completed, the Sabarmati tunnel is on the verge of completion, and work on all the stations and bridges along the route is progressing rapidly.

He expressed confidence that, once completed, this bullet train will reduce travel time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai to 2.7 hours and will connect major economic centres on this route, bringing about a multi-tier impact.

Mr Vaishnaw further stated that this project is utilising many indigenously developed technologies, equipment and components, some of which are already being exported. Mr Vaishnaw also visited the newly completed tunnel and reviewed the progress.