Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Reviews 'Implementation' Of Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Line

New Delhi, July 11 (TNA) Union Rail minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday reviewed the "implementation" of the Ahmedabad - Mumbai high speed line with Satish Agnihotri, the Managing Director of the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited.

Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor is an under-construction high-speed rail line connecting India's economic hub Mumbai with the city of Ahmedabad. When completed, it will be India's first high-speed rail line.

Construction was expected to begin by April 2020, and the project was expected to be completed by December 2023 but due to delays in acquiring land, the completion date has been pushed back to October 2028.

Sources say 60% of required land had been acquired last year and the rest was "almost on the verge of completion", civil works tenders covering 68% corridor (345 km out of 508 km, of 245 km 77% land in Gujarat, 80% in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 22% in Maharashtra) and a separate tender for 28 steel bridges have been allocated, remaining tendering process is under way.

The feasibility study on the project was carried out by RITES, Italferr and Systra in July 2015. On 20 July 2015, a joint Japanese-Indian survey team recommended a Shinkansen-style system for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad line, including the adoption of Automatic train control and dedicated tracks.

JICA's report recommended constructing 63.3% of the route an embankment slightly above the ground, 28.3% on stilts, 5.8% underground and 2.2% on bridges. Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain informed Parliament on 15 March 2017 that under a new plan the entire corridor would be elevated except for the tracks that were proposed to be built underground.