India has achieved its first mountain tunnel breakthrough for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project

¨     India has achieved its first mountain tunnel breakthrough for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project.

¨     The milestone marks significant progress in the bullet train corridor construction.

¨     Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the development.

¨     The breakthrough was achieved in Mountain Tunnel–5 located in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

¨     The tunnel is located between the Virar and Boisar bullet train stations.

¨     Its total length is nearly 1.5 kilometres. It is one of the longest mountain tunnels in the district.

¨     The tunnel was excavated from both sides. It was completed within 18 months using the drill-and-blast method.

¨     The first underground tunnel of the project was completed in September 2025.

¨     The first underground tunnel stretches about five kilometres between Thane and Bandra Kurla Complex.

¨     The full corridor will extend over 508 kilometres.

¨     It includes a total tunnel length of 27.4 kilometres. Total tunnel length comprises 21 kilometres of underground tunnels and 6.4 kilometres of surface tunnels.

¨     The project includes eight mountain tunnels in total.

¨     Seven mountain tunnels are located in Maharashtra and one mountain tunnel is located in Gujarat.

¨     Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail corridor covers 352 kilometres across Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and 156 kilometres in Maharashtra.

¨     It will connect key cities, including Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Vapi, Boisar, Virar, Thane and Mumbai.