A consortium of Sojitz of Japan and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) of India has been awarded a Rs 108.6bn ($US 1.32bn) contract for electrification of the entire 508km Mumbai - Ahmedabad high-speed line.
The new managing director of National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL), Mr Vivek Kumar Gupta, observed the EW-1 works contract signing by Mr Prashant Mishra, NHSRCL’s executive director (electrical), with representatives of Sojitz and L&T on February 8.
The EW-1 contract encompasses the design, manufacture, supply, construction, installation and commissioning of 25kV electrification systems suitable for speeds of up to 320km/h.
The system will be based on Japanese Shinkansen traction power supply systems. NHSRCL says that the contract involves the construction of 14 traction substations, 11 sectioning posts and an auto-transformer post, as well as 508 route-km of OHLE for double track.
Three OHLE maintenance depots will be constructed at Surat, Sabarmati and Thane. The contract also includes installing a power distribution system with an 11kV backbone, more than 125 substations and associated utility buildings. The contractors will also provide equipment for the related training facility.
Momentum builds
With this development, the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) project has moved to a new stage.
Since June 2023, the project has picked up pace, with previous issues that had held up development, including land acquisition, seemingly overcome.
NHSRCL is targeting the start of trials on a 50km section from Surat to Bilimora in Gujarat state for 2026. The Gujarat stretch of the line is expected to open by 2028, while entire line should follow a couple of years later, officials state.
All civil works contracts have now been awarded for the project. This includes the underground high-speed station at the Bandra-Kurla complex in Mumbai and the 21km tunnel that will connect the Bandra-Kurla complex with Mumbai, Shilphata and Thane in Maharashtra state. The tunnel includes a 7km-long undersea section beneath Thane Creek.
“With the project now moving to the next stage of the creation of energy infrastructure, it will become possible to start testing equipment,” says an NHSRCL official.
NHSRCL expects to award the signalling and telecoms (EW-2) contract this year, after which rolling stock procurement will be finalised, officials say. NHSRCL issued a tender for the supply of 24 E5 series Shinkansen trains in July 2023. Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are frontrunners for the contract, which is limited to Japanese suppliers under the funding agreement for the project.
Project costs are understood to have risen from the original Rs 1.1 trillion ($US 13.34bn) to Rs 1.65 trillion. NHSRCL officials say it will only be possible to calculate the true revised cost after the award of all contracts for the project.
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