India's First Ballastless Track For Bullet Train Being Developed, Railway Minister Shares Video

India’s first ballastless track system is currently being developed for the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The bullet train which has a speed barrier of 320 kmph has achieved significant progress.

On Thursday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took to X to share a video of the project and revealed that 295.5 km of piers and 153 km of viaducts have already been finished.

He further wrote, “Bharat’s first ballastless track for Bullet Train. 320 kmph speed threshold, 153 km of viaduct completed, 295.5 km of pier work completed. More to come in Modi 3.0”.

According to an NDTV report, ballastless track, or ‘slab track’ is becoming hugely popular in some countries for high-speed lines. For the first time, the J-slab ballastless track system is being used in India. This new system has pre-cast track slabs, which are meticulously equipped with fastening devices and rails.

The National High-Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL) said] that this slab rests on the RC track bed which has a thickness of around 300mm and is constructed in situ (at the site) for individual UP and Down track lines on the viaduct top. Ensuring stability, the RC track bed boasts a width of 2420mm.

While speaking at NDTV Indian of the Year award on March 24, the Railway Minister had said, “The bullet train project has to be seen from the perspective of integrating economies. In the first corridor that Indian railways are doing, Mumbai, Thane, Vapi, Baroda, Surat, Anand and Ahmedabad – all these economies will become one single economy. So you can have breakfast in Surat, go and complete your work in Mumbai, and come back with your family in the night.”

The cost of the project has been estimated to be around Rs 1.08 lakh crore, within which the Centre will provide Rs 10,000 crore, while Gujarat and Maharashtra will contribute Rs 5,000 crore each. The remaining funding will be taken through a loan from Japan , at a minimal 0.1 per cent interest rate, the NDTV report stated.