Overview

• The 4.88–4.9 km NATM tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata is complete, forming part of the 21 km BKC–Shilphata underground alignment that includes a 7 km undersea stretch under Thane Creek.
• Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the first 50 km Surat–Bilimora section will open by December 2027, with extensions to Thane in 2028 and Mumbai’s BKC in 2029.
• Initial peak service is planned every 30 minutes, moving toward every 10 minutes as the network stabilizes, with a Mumbai–Ahmedabad journey time of about two hours seven minutes.
• Herrenknecht TBMs are being delivered via JNPA to excavate the remaining roughly 16 km through shafts at BKC, Vikhroli and Sawli after the NATM breakthrough.
• Project metrics reported by NHSRCL include 321 km of viaduct and 398 km of piers completed, 17 river bridges, nine steel bridges, over 400,000 noise barriers, 206 km of track bed, and OHE masts along 48 km, with Indian crews training in Japan for Shinkansen E10 rolling stock as Vande Bharat is excluded from this corridor.