In a big update on the ongoing bullet train project, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the 50-km stretch of the country’s first bullet train project between Surat and Bilimora in Gujarat will open in 2027. While talking to the media, he said by 2029, the entire section between Mumbai and Ahmedabad of the bullet train project will become operational, covering the distance between two key cities in just two hours and seven minutes.
The minister made the announcement while visiting the under-construction Surat bullet train station and inspected track installation works and its first turnout installation.
“Overall progress of the first bullet train project is very good. The first 50-km section of the project between Surat and Bilimora will be open by 2027. We are preparing for that. By 2028, the entire Thane-Ahmedabad section will be commissioned, and by 2029, the entire Mumbai-Ahmedabad section will open,” he told media persons.
Technology to ensure ‘stability’ on bullet train movement
The Railway Minister said that the speed potential of the main line is 320 kmph and 80 kmph for the loop line. He added that the most modern technologies are being utilised to ensure the safe and efficient movement of trains.
Gujarat: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "The first section to be opened in the Bullet Train Project will be the Surat to Bilimora section. This section is 50 kilometers long and is making very good progress…" https://t.co/mg2E9tBNPd pic.twitter.com/S0mnkeACwC
— IANS (@ians_india) September 27, 2025
“This is a very complex movement of trains, that’s why the most modern technologies are being used. Several vibration mechanisms have been created here. The utility cable will take the vibrations whenever the train is moving at 320 kmph,” the minister added.
He elaborated that many mechanisms have been put in place within the tracks to absorb any vibration. “There are very special safety features on the track so that the train is very stable, even if there is a very heavy gust of wind or a sudden earthquake,” Vaishnaw added.
Big upgrade at Surat station
The Railway minister said the entire heavy work for Surat station has been completed, and finishing and utility works are underway.
“Today, the first turnout has been installed here in the Surat station on the bullet train project. Turnout is the place where the track either joins or separates. A lot of new technologies have been used here, for example, these roller bearings on which the tracks will move. This is again a totally new technology that we are using. The sleepers are made of composite material,” he said.
The minister said the bullet train project will turn economies of all major cities from Mumbai to Ahmedabad into one. “We hope to start work on the new projects very soon. In our party’s (BJP’s) manifesto, we have promised three more corridors in the north, one in the east, and one in the south. Mumbai-Ahmedabad is in the western part of the country. We will have four bullet train corridors as we go forward,” he said.