INDIA’s National High Speed Railway Corporation (NHSRCL) has launched a tender to construct a 21km tunnel as part of the Japan International Cooperation Association (JICA)-funded Mumbai - Ahmedabad high-speed corridor.
The tunnel, which includes a 7km undersea section beneath the Thane Creek inlet between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, will be built using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM). The tunnel will run from Mumbai underground station at Bandra-Kurla Complex to Shilphata in the state of Maharashtra. The contract is open to Indian and Japanese companies.
NHSRCL launched a design and construction tender last month for 18km of viaduct between Anand and Sabarmati.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was awarded two contracts worth a combined Rs 319bn ($US 4.2bn) in November 2020 to construct two sections of the line. The first contract, C-4, comprises the design and construction of 237km of viaduct on the 508km line as well as four stations and a depot. The second contract, C-6, comprises construction of viaducts, one station at Anand, major river bridges and other auxiliary works on the 87.5km elevated section from the outskirts of Vadodara to Ahmedabad.
However, the project has run into difficulties with delays of up to five years expected according to railway minister, Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw, pushing back completion to 2028.
An analysis of India’s high-speed network programme is available here.
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