Indian Railway Officials informed on December 1, 2020, that the Indian Railways had received all the requisite forestry, wildlife and coast regulation approvals in Maharashtra and Gujarat for the 508-km Mumbai and Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridors.
Chairman and CEO of Railway Board, V.K. Addressing a virtual press conference, Yadav said that the required forestry, wildlife and coastal regulation area approvals in both the states have been received and 1,070 utilities out of 1,651 utilities have been transferred for the project. The Chairman of the Railway Board also informed that the Railways has also got 67% land, which is necessary for the bullet train project.
Giving details about the land acquired in Gujarat, V.K. Yadav said that out of 956 hectares, 825 hectares of land has also been acquired, which is 86% of the total.
In the state of Maharashtra, out of 432 hectares of land, 97 hectares of land has been acquired which is 22% of the total land. While in Dadra and Nagar Haveli 7 out of 8 hectare land has been acquired by the department.
Indian Railways has released tenders worth Rs 32,000 crore in Gujarat for this ambitious project which will cover 325 km viaduct and five stations.
The initial deadline for completion of this project was December 2023. Commenting on the progress of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), the Chairman of the Railway Board stated that by June 2022, this DFC will be completed.
Under this project, these bullet trains are expected to cover a distance of 508 km in just 2 hours while running at a speed of 350 kmph. Currently, the trains running on this route take about 7 hours to cover the distance while the flight takes about one hour.
