First stretch of Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train ready by 2026: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The first stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train from Billimora to Surat will be ready by 2026, the minister of railways Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Friday.
During his visit to Mumbai, the minister said that when completed, trials on the Billimora-Surat route will be conducted using the E5 series of Shinkansen trains.
In Gujarat, over 250 kilometres of girders have already been launched.
Vaishnaw conducted the first remote-controlled blasting for tunnel digging work at the Vikhroli shaft, marking the beginning of tunnel boring operations.
Also Read:Work on entry points to 21-km bullet train tunnel underway
However, he did not provide the exact timeline for the completion of the entire 508-km route.
He added that the country’s first bullet train project faced delays due to the previous Maharashtra government’s delays.
“If the Uddhav Thackeray government hadn’t stalled this project, then a lot of work would have been completed in Maharashtra by now,” Vaishnaw said.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the railways have begun deep digging work at four locations to construct a 21-kilometre-long tunnel.
Work is currently underway at Vikhroli, Thane, Sawli near Ghansoli, all of which are entry points to the underground rail tunnel.
At 56 metres underground, the tunnel’s deepest stretch will be in Vikhroli, land for which was handed over by Godrej & Boyce to the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) in February 2023.
Actual work on the tunnel will, however, begin only after a year when the entry points are ready, and tunnel boring machines (TBM) are brought.
According to people aware of the developments in NHSRCL, 100% of the piling work is complete and excavation work is currently underway at Vikhroli.
The shaft will be used to lower two tunnel boring machines in two different directions – towards BKC and Ghansoli.
According to the ministry of railways, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route is India’s only approved high-speed rail project, with the Japanese government assisting in its execution.
The operational plan outlines that high-speed trains on the corridor will travel at a speed of 320kmph, stopping at 12 stations along the 508-kilometre route.
The ministry plans for 35 trains per day in each direction, operating every 20 minutes during peak hours and every 30 minutes during non-peak hours.
The journey will take one hour and 58 minutes with limited stops (in Surat and Vadodara) and two hours and 57 minutes with all stops.
The operational control centre for the MAHSR corridor will be located in Sabarmati.