When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for India’s first bullet train project in Ahmedabad in September 2017, the event was presented as more than just the launch of a railway corridor.It was pitched as India’s first major step into the world of high-speed rail — a technology long associated with countries like Japan, China and France.Nearly nine years later, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor remains under construction but the project has now entered its most advanced phase yet.Viaducts are rising across Gujarat and Maharashtra, undersea tunnel work has begun near Mumbai, stations are taking shape, and India’s first indigenously developed high-speed trainset is expected to roll out by 2027.At the same time, the project has also become a story of delays, land acquisition battles, cost escalation, engineering complexity and questions over execution timelines.As India pushes ahead with its first bullet train corridor, the project now stands at a critical stage where visible infrastructure is finally beginning to match the scale of the original promise.
How the bullet train project began
India’s first bullet train project was officially launched in 2017, though discussions around high-speed rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad had begun years earlier.The corridor is being developed with technical and financial assistance from Japan using the Shinkansen system, widely regarded among the safest high-speed rail technologies globally.The 508-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor will pass through Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
According to the ministry of railways, the route includes 12 stations:Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.The project is being implemented by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).The corridor has been designed for trains operating at speeds up to 320 kmph, significantly reducing travel time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.According to project estimates shared by the railways, the fastest service on the route, stopping only at Surat and Vadodara, is expected to complete the journey in slightly over two hours.Currently, regular trains on the route take around seven hours, while the Vande Bharat Express takes approximately five-and-a-half hours.
Why the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route was chosen
Railway officials have repeatedly said that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor was selected because it is among India’s busiest business travel routes.Mumbai remains the country’s financial capital, while Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara are major industrial and commercial centres.According to the railways, passenger demand projections, economic feasibility studies, expected urban growth and travel density were among the major reasons behind selecting the corridor.The project was also envisioned as a technology-transfer initiative under the government’s “Make in India” programme.Japanese funding became one of the key factors behind the project’s viability.Tokyo agreed to fund around 81% of the project through a soft loan carrying an interest rate of just 0.1%, repayable over 50 years with a long moratorium period.
Delays, land battles and rising project cost
Despite its ambitious launch, the project soon encountered major delays.Land acquisition emerged as one of the biggest hurdles, especially in Maharashtra.
Environmental clearances, litigation, compensation disputes and delays in acquiring land slowed construction significantly during the early years of the project.According to official data, the entire 1,389.5 hectares of land required for the corridor has now been acquired.But the delays substantially increased the project’s cost.The project was initially sanctioned at around Rs 1.1 lakh crore.However, railway board chairman and CEO Satish Kumar said in January that the revised cost had risen to nearly Rs 1.98 lakh crore, an increase of around 83%.Officials attributed the escalation to delays in land acquisition, statutory clearances and rolling stock finalisation.As of November 2025, the railways said the overall physical progress of the project stood at 55.6%, while financial progress was around 69.6%.According to official figures, more than Rs 85,000 crore had already been spent on the corridor by late 2025.
Construction now entering advanced stage
Although the project faced years of delays, visible progress accelerated significantly through 2025 and 2026.According to the latest updates shared by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and NHSRCL officials, 349 km of viaduct work has already been completed.A total of 443 km of piers, the concrete pillars supporting the elevated corridor, have also been constructed.Nearly 90% of the route is being built on elevated tracks.
Officials said more than 7,700 overhead equipment masts have already been installed across 179 km, while track-bed construction has progressed over 374 track-km.In Gujarat, foundation and pier work has crossed 350 km.Girder launching in Gujarat has already exceeded 331 km.In Maharashtra, construction activity accelerated after land acquisition issues were resolved.According to the railways, foundation work in Maharashtra has reached 74 km, while pier construction has crossed 65 km.Out of the 12 planned stations, foundation work has been completed at eight stations: Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.Excavation work at the underground Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) station in Mumbai is nearing completion.India’s bullet train corridor also marked a major engineering milestone in January with the breakthrough of the 1.5-km-long Mountain Tunnel-5 (MT-5) in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.Vaishnaw described it as the first mountain tunnel completed on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor.The tunnel is located between the Virar and Boisar bullet train stations and forms part of the seven mountain tunnels planned along the corridor.Officials said the breakthrough significantly cleared construction bottlenecks between Thane and Ahmedabad, leaving the Mumbai-Thane undersea stretch as the most technically challenging remaining section.
India’s first undersea rail tunnel
One of the most technically complex parts of the project is the undersea tunnel section near Thane Creek in Maharashtra.The project includes India’s first undersea rail tunnel stretching around 7 km.According to updates from the railway ministry, 4.8 km of tunnelling between Ghansoli and Shilphata has already been completed.The tunnel forms part of the underground section leading toward the BKC station in Mumbai.Officials have repeatedly described the tunnel work as one of the most challenging engineering components of the project because of difficult geological conditions and dense urban infrastructure.Vaishnaw has previously said the corridor includes one undersea tunnel along with seven mountain tunnels, making it among the most technically ambitious railway projects undertaken in India so far.
Massive bridges and engineering challenges
The corridor also involves the construction of several large river bridges and complex urban structures.
According to NHSRCL, 17 river bridges have already been completed.Work is currently at an advanced stage on major bridges across the Narmada, Mahi, Tapti and Sabarmati rivers in Gujarat.Construction is also underway on four river bridges in Maharashtra.Recently, NHSRCL announced completion of a major viaduct span over Ahmedabad’s busy Kalupur flyover on the Sabarmati-Mumbai railway line.Officials said the span was erected using the span-by-span method during controlled night closures to minimise traffic disruption.The 45-metre bridge span was assembled using 19 segments and weighs around 1,200 metric tonnes.According to NHSRCL, the corridor crosses 31 locations within Ahmedabad district, of which 23 have already been completed.
Building tracks unlike anything on India’s railway network
The challenge of building a bullet train corridor goes far beyond laying rails.Unlike conventional railway tracks used across India, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor is being constructed using the J-Slab ballastless track system based on Japan’s Shinkansen technology. According to NHSRCL, this is the first time the J-Slab ballastless track system is being used in India.The technology is designed specifically for high-speed operations and requires an entirely different construction methodology compared to traditional railway tracks.Track installation on the corridor is also being carried out through a highly mechanised process using specialised equipment manufactured according to Japanese specifications.
As per NHSRCL, machines such as Rail Feeder Cars, Track Slab Laying Cars, CAM Laying Cars and Flash Butt Welding Machines are being deployed for track construction.To support this work, dedicated Track Construction Bases (TCBs) have been established along the corridor for handling rails, track slabs, machinery and equipment both on the ground and on elevated viaducts.The project is also serving as a major technology-transfer exercise. According to NHSRCL, Indian engineers, supervisors and technicians are undergoing extensive training and certification programmes conducted by Japanese experts to understand Shinkansen track construction methods and high-speed rail standards.The specialised track system and construction process form a critical part of the infrastructure required for trains designed to operate at speeds of over 300 kmph.
India’s first indigenous bullet train
Alongside the corridor itself, India is also attempting to develop its own domestic high-speed rail manufacturing capability.The railways and Bengaluru-based BEML Limited are jointly working on the B-28 high-speed train project along with the Integral Coach Factory.The first indigenous train set is expected to be rolled out by 2027.According to Vaishnaw, the trainsets are being designed for operational speeds of around 250 kmph and a design speed of 280 kmph.The corridor infrastructure itself, however, is being built to support speeds up to 320 kmph.In April, Vaishnaw inaugurated BEML’s dedicated high-speed rail manufacturing facility named “Aditya” in Bengaluru.The facility has been designed specifically for manufacturing India’s future high-speed trainsets.
The railways said BEML received a contract worth Rs 866.9 crore for designing and manufacturing two indigenous high-speed trainsets.The coaches are expected to include fully air-conditioned chair-car configurations, reclining and rotating seats, onboard infotainment systems and other passenger amenities.Earlier this month, railways also displayed a conceptual image of India’s proposed bullet train design at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.However, officials later clarified that the displayed image was only symbolic and not the final design of the train.
India now planning faster bullet trains
Even before the first bullet train corridor becomes operational, the government has already started discussing next-generation high-speed trains.Vaishnaw recently said India’s future domestically developed bullet trains are being planned with speeds up to 350 kmph.According to the minister, work on the design is expected to begin within six months.He also said future trainsets are being designed specifically for India’s climatic conditions, including heat, dust and varying weather conditions.
When will the bullet train finally start?
The biggest question surrounding the project remains its operational timeline.India is likely to get its first operational bullet train service by the second half of 2027.According to current railway ministry estimates, the first operational section between Surat and Bilimora is expected to begin services in August 2027.Vaishnaw has also outlined a phased rollout plan for the corridor. According to the minister, the Surat-Bilimora section is expected to open first, followed by Vapi-Surat, then Vapi-Ahmedabad, followed by Thane-Ahmedabad, before the full Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor eventually becomes operational.
The entire Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is currently targeted for completion by December 2029.However, officials have also stated that final timelines depend on the completion of civil structures, tracks, signalling systems, electrical works and rolling stock supply.The government has described the project as one of the most complex rail infrastructure initiatives undertaken in India.
More bullet train corridors being planned
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad project is expected to become the foundation for India’s larger high-speed rail ambitions.Seven additional high-speed rail corridors are currently under consideration.The Railways has already progressed on detailed project reports for corridors such as Bengaluru-Chennai and Bengaluru-Hyderabad.According to the minister, the proposed Bengaluru-Chennai high-speed corridor could reduce travel time to around 73 minutes.The Bengaluru-Hyderabad route could potentially cut travel time to around two hours.The government has also indicated that a Bengaluru-Pune-Mumbai high-speed corridor is under consideration.In April, Vaishnaw described the proposed southern high-speed rail network as a “high-speed diamond” connecting Amaravati with Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.He said the network is intended to create stronger economic integration across southern India in a manner similar to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor.According to projections, the proposed Amaravati-Hyderabad route could reduce travel time to around 70 minutes, while Hyderabad-Pune could take under two hours and Pune-Mumbai around 48 minutes.In the long term, the railways aims to build a national high-speed rail network spanning nearly 7,000 km.
Why the bullet train project matters
Supporters of the project argue that the corridor is not merely about reducing travel time.They say it represents the nation’s attempt to build expertise in high-speed rail engineering, signalling systems, precision manufacturing and advanced transport infrastructure.The project has also triggered large-scale civil construction activity involving bridges, tunnels, elevated corridors and station redevelopment.Railway officials argue that the project could eventually help India develop domestic capabilities in high-speed rail manufacturing under the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiative.Critics, however, continue questioning the project’s high cost and long execution timeline.Some transport experts have argued that upgrading existing railway infrastructure may benefit a larger number of passengers.Others believe India’s growing economy and urbanisation justify investment in high-speed rail systems similar to those seen in Japan and China.For now, India’s bullet train project remains both an engineering challenge and a political symbol.Nearly a decade after its launch, the corridor is still unfinished.But for the first time since the project began, large portions of the infrastructure are visibly taking shape across western India.Whether the bullet train eventually transforms Indian travel in the way its supporters envision will only become clear after the first trains finally begin running.
