Ahmedabad, July 4 (IANS). Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav visited Ahmedabad on Saturday. During this, he reached the historic Kalupur Railway Station in Ahmedabad and took stock of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project and Metro Project. He also inspected the historic Kalupur Railway Station.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav interacted with the workers during the inspection of the Bullet Train Project. During this, slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ were raised. The working class working in the project also took selfies and photos with the Railway Minister. The visit of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav is being considered important towards speeding up India’s first high-speed rail project.
Ashwini Vaishnav told that the work of Bullet Train Project is going on very fast. Next year, the first section from Surat to Bilimora will become operational, after which the section from Vapi to Surat will start. Then the section from Vapi to Ahmedabad will be completed. After this, work will be done on the section from Ahmedabad to Thane and finally from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. He said that this project will be completed in different sections and phases by 2029. About 80 percent of the work has already been completed in Gujarat area.
He said, “The construction work of the bullet train project within the city is very complex. At many places the railway track will have to be crossed and at many places it will also have to be crossed by flyovers built over the existing railway lines. Double crossing is required at many places, which makes it technically challenging.”
The Railway Minister said that the average height in Ahmedabad city is about 100 feet. The entire bridge is built at this height. The bridge is ready and now the work of laying the track will be done. Ashwini Vaishnav said, “There is a bullet train track at a height of about 100 feet.
He said that the multimodal integration of all the four stations in Ahmedabad, namely bus stand, metro, railway and bullet train, is its specialty. Special care has been taken that if the passengers come by metro, they can go directly towards the bullet train and railway station from the left side. Passengers can get down from the railway station and board the bullet train. Such arrangements have been made with great care. He said, “Another special thing is that kites have great importance in the culture of Ahmedabad. The Bullet Train station has been designed keeping kites in mind. A very nice station is being built.”
Ashwini Vaishnav said, “The stations of Metro, Railways and Bullet Train are being built at one place. We have started a mission to establish better coordination between these three, so that passengers can easily go from Metro to Railways, Railways to Bullet Train or Bullet Train to Metro.”
He said, “I have come today to take stock of these arrangements and it has been planned very well. There will be a metro on the ground floor. Passengers coming by metro can go to the railway station on the first floor, while the second floor connects to the bullet train station. Similarly, after getting down from the bullet train, they will be able to reach the Indian Railways station directly and will be able to reach the metro station on the ground floor.”
–IANS
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