NE BUSINESS BUREAU
SURAT, VADODARA, NOV 30
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday inspected a track slab manufacturing factory for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project near Surat in Gujarat.
Manufacturing of the world's most complex track maintenance machines in Bharat.
📍Plasser India factory in Vadodara, Gujarat pic.twitter.com/BQupvWqIri
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) November 30, 2024
#BullettrainIndia https://t.co/zyOwl5aY1f
— NHSRCL (@nhsrcl) November 30, 2024
“Slab is the most important part of the bullet train project… The world’s largest slab manufacturing facility, based on Japanese technology, is here in Kim Village in Surat,” he said after inspecting the manufacturing plant.
— NHSRCL (@nhsrcl) November 30, 2024
- The track slab manufacturing factory, set up near Surat to support India’s first bullet train project, is designed to produce high-capacity ballast-less track slabs using advanced Shinkansen technology
- The educational course on the design, manufacturing and testing of track maintenance machines will be taught at Gatishakti University in Vadodara to help create new opportunities for youth
- Vaishnaw participates in the 2nd convocation of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya
High precision and highly skilled work is being done here in this facility and the testing and quality checks are also of very high standards, he said, adding earlier we brought equipment from Japan but now manufacturing has started in India. This facility will also help in future construction projects, the union minister said.
He said the experience in manufacturing equipment in India after initially bringing them from Japan will benefit future construction projects.
The track slab manufacturing factory, set up near Surat to support India’s first bullet train project, is designed to produce high-capacity ballast-less track slabs using advanced Shinkansen technology.
This unit will play a crucial role in ensuring the stability and performance of the bullet train’s tracks, according to the National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the project execution agency.
This facility will produce track slabs for 237 km of high-speed rail track for MAHSR corridor in Gujarat & DNH (352 km), it said.
The Railways Minister also visited a facility of Plasser India, a manufacturer of track maintenance machines, at Karjan near Vadodara.
He said the educational course on the design, manufacturing and testing of machines will be taught at Gatishakti University in Vadodara to help create new opportunities for youth.
“The Austrian company has the world’s biggest plant in India which also exports. I inspected the products to be exported to Australia, Argentina, and two to three other countries. The skill level of our engineers and technicians is also increasing significantly,” the Railways Minister said.
Vaishnaw participated in the 2nd convocation of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, formerly National Rail and Transportation Institute, in Vadodara.
India’s first bullet train link is being constructed between Mumbai and Ahmedabad using Japan’s Shinkansen technology to create a high-frequency mass transportation system.
The project has been funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore.
The Rs 1.10 lakh crore project, expected to be completed by 2022, faced hurdles in land acquisition.
The government has set a target to run the first phase of the bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in south Gujarat by 2026.
The NHSRCL has completed the 100 per cent land acquisition for the project across Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Earlier, on November 20, Vivek Kumar Gupta, MD, National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), inspected the Track Construction Base (TCB) and the Bilimora Bullet Train station construction sites in Navsari district to review the ongoing work and construction progress.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train corridor will have 12 stations on its 508-km route, of which eight will be in Gujarat and four in Maharashtra.
Stations will come up at Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Bilimora and Vapi in Gujarat, and Boisar, Virar, Thane and Mumbai in Maharashtra.
