National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) has launched all 14 portal beams over the Delhi–Mumbai Rajdhani main line in Vadodara, Gujarat, constructed using the cast-in-situ method under the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (HSR) Corridor Project. This includes 10 portal beams located between Vadodara bullet train station and Vishwamitri railway station towards the Surat end, while four are located between Vadodara railway station and Chhayapuri railway station towards the Ahmedabad end. Each beam measures approximately 4 metres in height, 4 metres in width, and 37 metres in length and weighs approximately 1,500 tonnes.
With this, the project moves a step closer to integration with Vadodara’s existing railway network, and a major structural requirement for launching the 40 m composite girders over the Rajdhani main line has been cleared.
The project involves development of a 508.17 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR corridor in Maharashtra and Gujarat with an investment of Rs 1,080 billion. It is being implemented by a special purpose vehicle (SPV), named National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), incorporated by the Ministry of Railways (MoR) and the respective state governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat with equity stake of 50:25:25 respectively. The project is the first corridor to be explored for the railway’s bullet train project and also includes a 21 km long tunnel, including a 7 km undersea stretch, from Mumbai to Thane.