India's first Bullet Train project gets environmental clearance from forest department

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): The officials from Indian Railways on December 1, 2020, informed that the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has got all the requisite clearances from the forestry, wildlife, and coast regulation department in Maharashtra and Gujarat for 508 km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor.

Railway Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vinod Kumar Yadav while addressing a virtual press conference from New Delhi informed that the requisite forestry, wildlife, and coastal regulation zone clearances in both the states have been obtained and out of 1,651 utilities, 1,070 utilities have been shifted for the project. The Chairman also informed that Railways have also got 67% of the land which is required for the Bullet Train Project.

While giving the break up of the land acquired in Gujarat, Ydava said that 825 hectares out of 956 hectares have also been acquired, which is a total of 86%. In Maharashtra state, 97 hectares out of 432 hectares of land has been acquired which is 22% of the total land acquired. While 7 hectares out of eight-hectare land has been acquired by the department in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

So far, NHSRCL has floated the tenders worth Rs. 32,000 crores in Gujarat for the ambitious project which will cover 325 km viaduct and five stations.

The initial deadline for completing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Corridor was December 2023. The bullet trains under the project are expected to run at the speed of 350 km per hour covering the 508 km stretch in just about 2 hours. 

While commenting on the progress of the Dedicated Freight Corridor, Railway Board Chairman informed that by June 2022, DFC will be completed.

On September 14, 2017, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had laid the foundation stone of the ambitious project worth Rs. 1.08 lakh crores (USD17 billion).

For more details, please explore the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail page of Urban Transport News.