Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train to get its first underground station at Bandra Kurla Complex

The seven-hour travel between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be reduced to two hours after the introduction of bullet trains.

Mumbai, Apr 10: The station problem for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project has been solved as the Maharashtra government has agreed to give land at the Bandra Kurla complex (BKC). The cost of the project is estimated to be around Rs 97,636 crore, out of which, Japan will be providing 81 per cent of loan for the project. It is expected that the construction will start from 2018 and will be completed by 2023.

The layout of the project shows a total of 12 stations on the 508-km route. Out of the 12 stations, four stations will be in Maharashtra and the remaining eight in Gujarat. The proposed bullet train will start underground from BKC and travel 21 km in a tunnel passing through the sea before emerging over the ground at Thane.

A major problem occurred when the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) wanted to use the BKC land for the proposed International Financial Service Centre (IFSC) and the state urban development department had also asked the railway to choose alternatives land near Bandra Terminus and Kurla.

However, the railways rejected the suggestion and managed to convince the MMRDA that India’s first high-speed rail project should be constructed at an underground terminus at BKC. Since the station is planned to be built underground, the above space can be utilised for IFSC construction.

The seven-hour travel between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will be reduced to two hours after the introduction of bullet trains.