Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train: Land Acquisition For Project To Be Completed In 6 Months, Says Railway Board Chairman

The Indian Railways will acquire rest of the 53 per cent of land required for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Train project, which is also called Bullet train project, in next six months, an official said on Wednesday (29 January).

Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said, "Till date 47 per cent of the land has been acquired for the 508-km long Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed rail project, and rest of the 53 per cent will be acquired in next six months."

He said, the work of acquiring the land is in advanced stage and it will be available for the project soon.

Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on 14 September 2017 laid the foundation stone of the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) project.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Union Railway Ministry have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the 508-km corridor, with Japan to partially fund the project.

The chairman said that a total of 1,380 hectare land is required for the high speed train project, out of which railways has acquired 479 hectare from the private persons and 119 hectare from government land.

He also said that once the 90 per cent of land is acquired, six out of 29 tender packages for the project will be out in the month of March and April this year.

Yadav also stressed that the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) will be able to complete the project before its deadline of December 2023.

He said that the project will be completed in three phases and the first phase of 50 km stretch will be completed by August 2022.

According to the official, a 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, 7 km of which will be under the sea.

The ambitious bullet train project, once completed would see trains travelling at 320 km/hr, and cover the 508 km stretch within two hours. The project is a daunting task as the route also includes a mountain tunnel of about 280 meters, 24 river crossings and 30 road and canal crossings.

The NHSRCL has already floated tenders to construct various tunnels and stations. Based on the city they are located in, four stations on the rail corridor would feature uniquely themed stations.

(With inputs from IANS)