First concrete slab of Mumbai bullet train station cast

Mumbai Bullet Train station's first base slab laid at 32m depth, marking progress in delayed project.

“The first base slab of the Mumbai Bullet Train station was laid at a depth of 32 metres on November 30,” National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) said on Wednesday (December 4, 2024).

The depth of the base is equal to a 10-storey building, measuring about 30 metres in length and 20 metres in width. It is the first of the 69 slabs that are supposed to be laid for the station.

Mumbai Bullet Train station is the only underground station on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor.

The laying of the first slab is being seen as a progress in executing the much-delayed project. It was approved in December 2015 and was supposed to be implemented by 2023. However, with delay in meeting deadlines, the Surat to Bilimora stretch is slated for launch by 2026.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) blamed the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for delaying key infrastructure projects in Mumbai, including the bullet train and the Aarey Colony Metro car shed project.

“Today, bullet train would have been in operation if the Congress-led government did not come to power. From Japan, we received a loan at nominal interest but because of the delay, we struggled a lot,” Ms. Sitharaman said, while speaking at the State BJP legislature party meeting in Mumbai.

Calling the first base slab a major milestone, NHSRCL MD Vivek Kumar Gupta said, “Building this 32-metre-deep station in the heart of Bandra Kurla Complex involved excavating about 18.7 lakh cubic meters of earth, out of which 52% excavation is already completed.”