Ashwini Vaishnaw inspects Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, accuses previous Maharashtra govt of delay in permissions

Mumbai: The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor has been making steady progress since work began in November 2021. Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Friday was at the project site to review an under construction tunnel. The rail minister has been conducting regular reviews of India's first high speed corridor project.
While interacting with the media during his visit, he detailed the underwater rail tunnel and the project. Vaishnaw also accused the former Maharashtra government, led by Uddhav Thackeray, of not giving permission for the mega project during their tenure.
"This tunnel is 21km long, out of which 7km will be undersea. The deepest point is 56mtr underwater. The tunnel is nearly 40 feet wide. The train will be able to move at a speed of 320km/hr inside the tunnel. Till the time the Maharashtra government was led by Uddhav Thackeray, he did not give permission for this project. But when Eknath Shinde assumed charge, we got a go-ahead," said Vaishnaw on Friday.
"To speed up the process, some innovations have been made. Work is going on simultaneously from four directions... This is India's first high-speed corridor project... Our biggest aim in this project is to understand the complexity and the capability of its design," he added.
Further talking about time taken get the high speed rail network operational Vaishnaw said, "The first section of this high-speed train will open in July-August 2026 between Surat and Bilimora. The Shinkansen system is being installed in the high-speed railway project. It is one of the safest systems in the world..."
On Monday, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) which has been tasked with overseeing the project shared a video of a tunnel for the bullet train that will pass through two states.
NHSRCL took to X and shared an aerial video of the tunnel which is flanked by the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. ''The MAHSR #bullettrain project tunnels through, connecting Maharashtra and Gujarat. A testament to engineering ingenuity that brings states closer on the route to progress,'' the caption of the video read.