India's Bullet Train project catches up speed; bids invited for stns

Bullet Train

India's bullet train project has caught up speed. The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited on Thursday invited bids for design and construction of about 18 km of viaduct between Anand and Sabarmati including HSR stations at Ahmedabad and Sabarmati for Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail corridor. The alignment also has 31 crossing bridges including 6 (six) Steel truss bridges.

"In last few days, NHSRCL has opened three (03) technical bids covering 64% (325 km out of 508 km) of the total MAHSR alignment including five (5) HSR stations (Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch and Anand/Nadiad) out of 12 stations," a senior official said.

Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Station:

Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail will traverse through Western Railway's Ahmedabad Junction Railway Station and shall be integrated with Saraspur side of the existing Ahmedabad station. Ahmedabad HSR station will be built over the existing railway platform no. 11 & 12.

Bullet Train

To ensure seamless integration of the HSR station with other modes of rail transport, NHSRCL has designed a user-friendly station layout for Ahmedabad. An integrated Building for passenger transit is planned on east side of the existing railway station, where Passengers will be able to swiftly switch from one mode to another. This building will be equipped with escalators and elevators and will house many passenger convenience facilities like Booking office, Passenger lobby, tea/coffee kiosks and other amenities etc.

The integrated building shall provide connections to Western Railway existing foot over Bridges to facilitate passenger movement to & fro IR Platforms and underground metro station on Saraspur side.

The construction of HSR station over existing railway lines will be quite challenging. Along the railway tracks there are multiple utilities like platform sheds, offices, signalling and telecom cables, pipelines, electrical cables, tracks etc, which are being shifted before the commencement of the construction activities. The functional offices of Ahmedabad railway station have already been relocated. Carrying out construction activities of HSR station alongside ongoing Ahmedabad Mega metro construction, moving man & machinery over existing railway lines without disrupting passenger & cargo traffic at Ahmedabad Railway Station will also be challenging.

Sabarmati High Speed Rail Station:

Sabarmati being the terminal station of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor, NHSRCL has planned to develop it as a vibrant Multimodal Transport Hub in the region. To achieve seamless integration of various transport modes around the HSR station, a multi-modal transit terminal has been planned on the East side of Sabarmati HSR station which shall ensure smooth traffic flow in the influence area of HSR station. The Multi Modal Integration schemes focus on integration of existing and planned transit facilities in the station area. The available Right of Way (RoW) along existing road network has been optimally utilized for planning the inflow/outflow of estimated traffic in horizon years.

A new Road Under Bridge (RUB) has already been constructed to provide direct entry to proposed site of Sabarmati HSR station. This will facilitate station construction without interference with existing railway network on day to day basis.

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