Ahmedabad: Western Railway’s Ahmedabad Survey and Construction Organisation on Thursday held a meeting with prospective bidders to discuss the implementation of the proposed Sarkhej-Dholera Semi-High-Speed Broad Gauge Double Line Railway Project. Officials said EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) tenders for the project will be invited shortly.

The meeting, held at the conference hall of the Chief Administrative Officer’s office, was chaired by Pradeep Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Western Railway. Chief Engineer Kamlesh Kumar, Chief Electrical Engineer R.D. Meena, Deputy Chief Signal and Telecom Engineer Ratan Basu, and other officials from the Construction Department were also present.

Deputy Chief Engineer Prashant Singh gave a detailed presentation on the project. More than 20 firms from the civil, electrical, and signal and telecommunications sectors participated in the meeting, while several others joined virtually.

During the interaction, discussions were held on various aspects of project execution, including contract packaging, civil works, track construction, traction systems, signal and telecom works, interface requirements, and design details. Taking into consideration the suggestions received from interested bidders, Gupta said the EPC tenders for the project would be floated soon.

According to Khemraj Meena, Public Relations Officer (Construction), Ahmedabad Division, the proposed 134-km double-line corridor will provide modern rail connectivity between Ahmedabad and key infrastructure projects, including the Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR), the proposed Dholera International Airport, and the National Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal.

The semi-high-speed corridor has been planned with a design speed of 220 kmph and an operational speed of 200 kmph. The project includes the construction of 11 stations, three major bridges, 74 km of viaducts, 39 Road Under Bridges (RUBs), and two Rail-over-Rail bridges. The total track length is expected to be around 293 km.

Estimated to cost around ₹20,667 crore, the project is set to become Indian Railways’ first indigenous semi-high-speed rail corridor and is expected to be operated by Namo Bharat trains in the future. DeshGujarat