Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Hits Major Milestone: 300 KM Viaduct Completed

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project has achieved a key milestone with the completion of 300 km of viaduct work. The Union Minister also shared a video of the project on the social media platform X.

300 km viaduct completed. — Bullet Train Project, he wrote, sharing a video from the project.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor is being built mostly on viaducts to avoid level crossings, ensure speed, and minimise land acquisition issues. These viaducts are raised tracks, typically made of concrete pillars and girders, that keep the train line above ground.

According to the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the viaduct construction for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project includes major structures spanning six rivers in Gujarat — Par, Purna, Mindhola, Ambika, Auranga, and Venganiya—located in the Valsad and Navsari districts. These viaducts are being built using 40-metre-long full-span box girders and segmental girders, with noise barriers already installed along completed sections.

Key components of the project are progressing rapidly. In Surat, India saw the first-ever installation of a reinforced concrete track bed using Japan’s Shinkansen-inspired ‘J-slab ballastless’ system. The project also completed the breakthrough of a 350-metre mountain tunnel in Valsad and erected the first of 28 planned steel bridges, a 70-metre span in Surat.

The foundation stone for the high-speed corridor was laid on September 14, 2017, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), set up in February 2016 as a Special Purpose Vehicle under the Ministry of Railways, is implementing the project with equity participation from the central government and the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Once completed, the bullet train will revolutionise travel between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, drastically cutting travel time and introducing Japan’s advanced Shinkansen technology to India.