New Delhi: The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for India’s first bullet train project is set to arrive in Mumbai, marking a milestone in the 21-km tunnel section of the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor.

The 3,000-tonne TBMs, manufactured by German company Herrenknecht, are being shipped from China and are expected to reach Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal by March 24. The vessel LOA Fortune, carrying the components, departed from Guangzhou on March 7 and halted at Chennai before proceeding to Mumbai. Some parts, including the cutter wheel and tail shield, have already reached the site.

After unloading, the remaining components will be transported to the Vikhroli and Savli locations, where excavation work will continue. So far, 4.88 km of the 21-km tunnel has been completed using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), while the remaining stretch will be excavated using TBMs.

In the 508-km Mumbai–Ahmedabad bullet train corridor, tunnels account for 27.4 km, including 21 km underground and 6.4 km surface tunnels. The tunnel section between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata also includes a 7-km undersea stretch beneath Thane Creek. The TBM to be deployed has a diameter of 13.65 metres, the first of its kind to be used in India.

The project’s first operational section between Surat and Bilimora is expected to be completed by August 15, 2027, while the full corridor is targeted for completion by December 2029. DeshGujarat