Surat: Minister of State for Railways & textiles Darshana Jardosh stated in a tweet that Surat will become the first station to be ready between Ahmedabad-Mumbai route for the bullet train project.

Surat, like it has always done, will break new ground and take India's progress to newer levels. #Surat will become the 1st station to be ready between Ahmedabad – Mumbai route for India's first futuristic High Speed Rail – the #BulletTrain project.https://t.co/rtUuOK9tPb

— Darshana Jardosh (@DarshanaJardosh) February 3, 2022

An official from National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHRCL) in an article quoted by the minister informed that the works on the four stations namely Vapi, Bilimora, Surat and Bharuch have been expedited and these stations will be ready by December 2024. Surat station will be the first one to be ready, he stated. He informed further that a 237-km long viaduct will be also constructed apart from the four stations. The railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav had said last year in December that India’s first bullet train will operate between Surat and Bilimora in 2026.

The pier construction in Valsad district and station work at Chainage 167 in Vapi is in progress, as per the information. The pier construction work is in full swing at Chainage 238 in Navsari district. The construction has started on Chainage 264 for Surat station, informed an NHRCL official and added that the construction work of pile, pile cap and pillar between Chainage 358 to 360 is in progress in Bharuch district. The construction of pile, pile cap and pillar between Chainage 410 to 417 is ongoing in Vadodara district, he informed and added that the work of Sabarmati terminal Hub building in Ahmedabad is also in progress.

“As Surat is known as India’s diamond hub, the entire terminal building will be themed around diamond. The exteriors of the terminal building will look like multiple diamonds kept in a row while the aerial view of the building will also reflect shape of a diamond. Not just the exterior portion or façade of the building, even the interiors will have creatives and caricatures as well as tiles in diamond shape,” Dhananjay Kumar, NHSRCL’s spokesperson had said.

The bullet train station for Surtis will come up at Antroli village, nine km away from the existing railway station. Interestingly, the terminal building for Surat will be an elevated structure as national highway (NH-48) will pass below it.