Bullet train milestone: First mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved in Maharashtra's Palghar

NEW DELHI: India's slug bid corridor marked a large milestone connected Friday with the breakthrough of a high-speed upland passageway successful Maharashtra's Palghar district.Railway curate Ashwini Vaishnaw virtually witnessed the last breakthrough of the 1.5-km-long Mountain Tunnel-5 (MT-5) from Rail Bhawan successful New Delhi.

This is the archetypal upland passageway to beryllium completed connected the Mumbai–Ahmedabad slug bid corridor.Addressing a property conference, Vaishnaw said, "Today, a large milestone has been achieved successful the Bullet Train Project. This milestone is the breakthrough of Mountain Tunnel-5. In the full Bullet Train Project, determination are 7 upland tunnels and 1 nether oversea tunnel." Calling it a important measurement forward, helium added, "With this (tunnel breakthrough) everything betwixt Thane and Ahmedabad is wide now.

Only Mumbai–Thane nether oversea agelong is simply a constraint now, remainder full task is wide now."According to a Railway Ministry note, "this 1.5-km-long upland passageway is among the longest successful Palghar territory and is located betwixt the Virar and Boisar slug bid stations. It is the 2nd passageway breakthrough successful Maharashtra, arsenic the archetypal 5-km-long underground passageway betwixt Thane and BKC was completed successful September 2025."

Vaishnaw besides highlighted presumption and depot readying challenges, saying, "Overall, determination are 12 stations successful this project... Sabarmati is the terminal station, and successful Mumbai, the terminal presumption is BKC. Three depots are being constructed. Normally, for a agelong of 508 kilometres, lone 2 depots are required.""However, 3 depots had to beryllium planned because, for a agelong period, the past Maharashtra government, during (Uddhav) Thackeray ji's tenure, stopped granting permissions and refused approvals.

Because of this delay, further arrangements had to beryllium made," helium added.The 508-km Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project, passing done Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, is designed for trains moving astatine 320 kmph, cutting question clip to astir 2 hours and 17 minutes.Earlier this week, Vaishnaw said India is apt to get its archetypal slug bid connected 15 August 2027, stating that, "the slug bid volition beryllium acceptable successful 2027, August 15th, 2027." Detailing the phased rollout, helium said, "the archetypal conception to unfastened volition beryllium from Surat to Bilimora. After that, Vapi to Surat volition open. Then Vapi to Ahmedabad volition open, and aft that, Thane to Ahmedabad volition open, and past Mumbai to Ahmedabad volition open."The curate besides announced that the archetypal Vande Bharat sleeper bid is acceptable to beryllium launched this month, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to emblem disconnected the work successful the 2nd fractional of January 2026.