Surat bullet train station: Railway Ministry shares first look; details here

Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Jardosh on Thursday shared the first glimpse of the graphical representation for Surat's Bullet Train station which is currently being constructed on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. 

Jardosh wrote on Twitter, "Sharing with you all, 1st glimpse of graphical representation of Surat's Bullet Train station." 

She added that the "state-of-the-art" multi-level station will have an external facade and the interiors of the station resemble "a sparkling diamond - the pride of Surat city". 

The minister also shared three images which included graphical representations of both the exterior and interior of the upcoming bullet train station. Jardosh also shared an aerial shot of the actual construction site. 

 Launched in September 2017 by PM Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the project was initially expected to be completed by 2023. However, due to delays in land acquisition in Maharashtra and the countrywide lockdown announced in March 2020 to contain the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the deadline was extended to 2028. 

As of February 9, 98.63 per cent of land acquisition has happened in Gujarat, 100 per cent in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and 60.2 per cent in Maharashtra.

The under-construction 508-km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor is the country's first bullet train project to connect Mumbai with Ahmedabad. 

Of the total project length, 348-km lies in the state of Gujarat, 4-km in the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and the rest 156-km in the state of Maharashtra. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is funding Rs 88,000 crore of the estimated Rs 110,000 crore budget.

In September last year, union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that trial run of the first bullet train would happen on the 50-km stretch between Surat and Bilimora in 2026.

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