VADODARA: If land acquisition for the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train is inordinately delayed, chances are that the high-speed train will run on 352 km between Ahmedabad and Vapi.
Achal Khare, managing director of National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL), which is implementing the project, said on Thursday that this possibility cannot be ruled out.
“We are also exploring this option,” Khare said in a virtual interaction with reporters
Even as 95% land acquisition work for the 352 km stretch in Gujarat has been completed, the same in Maharashtra for 156 km is just around 23%.
The NHSRCL has acquired 95 per cent of the land for the 352 km stretch of the project in Gujarat, but has been able to acquire only 23 per cent of land for the 156 km stretch in Maharashtra.
The remaining 5% in Gujarat will be acquired by mid-June.
"If we are able to acquire about 70% to 80 % land in the next three months, we can start the entire project together," he said.
The project is, however, set to miss the 2023 deadline as the Covid-19 pandemic had stopped all the work.
“Last one year has practically gone (without work) due to Covid-19 pandemic. Certain issues related to land acquisition in Maharashtra have also affected the timeline of the project,” said Khare.
The civil works for the project in the state will take four years to complete after issuing tenders. “The time duration of the biggest tender is four years. All civil works should be over by the third quarter of 2024. We will also try to complete other works related to electrification soon after that,” he said.
Out of eight high-speed rail (HSR) stations to be constructed in Gujarat, work for five stations have already been awarded while that of Ahmedabad, Sabarmati and Vadodara HSR along with one stretch of the viaduct is yet to be awarded.