Less than a month after it formed the Government in Maharashtra in alliance with the Shiv Sena faction led by current chief minister Eknath Shinde, the BJP-led Government at the Centre on Friday put the stalled Bullet Train Project on a high-speed mode, as it called for tenders for the construction of an underground railway station at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in north central Mumbai.
The Shiv Sena-led MVA Government, which came into existence on November 28, 2019, had put Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet Bullet Train immediately after it assumed office.
However, the Narendra Modi government has revived the Bullet Train project in little over three weeks after Eknath Shinde of the rebel Shiv Sena faction and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis were sworn in as the chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively on June 30.
In a tender published in Central Public Procurement Portal, the Centre has called for quotations for “design and Construction of Civil and Buildings Works including Testing and Commissioning on Design-Build Lump Sum Price basis for Double Line High Speed Railway for Mumbai Underground Station, Cut & Cover Tunnel and Shaft-1 from MAHSR Km. -0.255 to Km. 0.775 at Bandra-Kurla Complex in the State of Maharashtra for the Project for Construction of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail”.
The last date for submitting the tenders is October 20, 2022. The tenders will be opened on October 21, 2022. The Government of India-run National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) will execute the project. Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had on July 14 given indications of the restart of the work on the bullet train project when he said that all clearances have been given for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train in the state.
In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for early completion of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project when he said that the ambitious bullet train project was the need of the hour as it would strengthen infrastructure capacity building and reinforce Mumbai’s identity as “the city of dreams".
It may be recalled that in September 2017, Modi and his then Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had laid the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project in Gujarat.
The 508 km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project(Standard Gauge) at an estimated completion cost of Rs 1,10,000 crore. Out of this Rs 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs 88,000 crore. Interest on this loan is minimal i.e. 0.1%, and this loan is to be repaid to Japan in 50 years. Loan repayment period of 50 years with 15 years grace.
In the first phase, the bullet train will cover 508 kilometres between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
There are 12 stations proposed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad - Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. If the bullet train stops at 12 stations then it will cover the distance within 2 hours and 58 minutes.
The distance between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be covered in 2 hours and 07 minutes by the bullet train if it stops at four stations namely Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai. The operating speed of the bullet train will be 320 kilometers per hour and maximum speed will be 350 kilometers per hour.
Of this route, 92 per cent of the route will be elevated, 6 per cent in tunnels and the rest 02 per cent will be on the ground. That is, 508 will have 468 kilometers of track elevated, 27 kilometers of the route within the tunnel and the remaining 13 kilometers on the ground.
Initially, it was also proposed to convert it into a 10-car bullet train. This train will have the capacity to accommodate 750 people. In future, it is also proposed to convert it into a 16-car bullet train.
The 16 car bullet train will have the ability to sit for 1250 people.
The maximum Maximum design speed is 350 kmph. The train will adopt Japanese high speed technologies (the Shinkansen system).The Centre has planned the transfer of technology for construction and also for manufacture of rolling stock, systems and other components in India to promote ‘Make in India’.
The project will be implemented by a new Special Purpose Vehicle on the lines of DMRC with equity participation from the Ministry of Railways, Maharashtra Government and Gujarat.