Vaishnaw shares update on bullet train project

New Delhi: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared an update on the country’s ambitious Bullet Train Project on Tuesday, announcing the completion of 300 kilometres of viaduct.

Taking to his official handle on X, the minister posted a video along with the caption, “300 km viaduct completed. -- Bullet Train Project.”

The project is being implemented by the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).

Approximately 76 per cent of the excavation work has been completed on the Mumbai bullet train station located at Bandra Kurla Complex, which is the only underground station on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.

According to a release, 14.2 lakh cubic metres of the excavation work has been completed. 18.7 lakh cubic metres of earthwork must be excavated from this site.

Three batching plants of 120 cum/hr capacity are functional at site.

Batching plants are provided with an ice plant and a chiller plant that help control concrete temperature.

The site is provided with a modern concrete lab, with facilities like a Water Permeability Test, a Rapid Chloride Penetration Test, etc. All concrete tests are conducted at the site, and samples are intermittently sent to a reputed lab.

Base Slab is being cast with M-60 grade of temperature-controlled concrete. Each base slab casting required 3,000 to 4,000 cubic metres of concrete at controlled temperatures, which is being produced by in-situ batching plants and chiller plants.

The platform is planned at a depth of about 26 metres below ground level. There will be three floors including platform, concourse and service floor. Excavation for the said work is being done till a depth of 32 metres (approx. 100 ft) from the ground level, which is equivalent to a 10-storey building.