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With first mountain tunnel breakthrough in Maharashtra’s Palghar, Bullet train project marks ‘major milestone’

A tunnel breakthrough is the point or moment when a tunnel being excavated from both ends finally connects, marking a completion of a critical work

3 min readUpdated: Jan 2, 2026 07:52 PM IST

In Maharashtra, Mountain tunnel no. 1 (MT-1), which is 820 metres long, has achieved 15 percent physical progress. (Image: Ministry of Railways)

Marking a major milestone, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor achieved a breakthrough in its first mountain tunnel – and second tunnel overall — in Maharashtra’s Palghar Friday.

“A major milestone has been achieved in the Bullet train project today. It is the breakthrough of Mountain tunnel no. 5 (MT-5). There are a total of seven mountain tunnels and one undersea tunnel in this project,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, who witnessed the occasion through video conferencing from the Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

A tunnel breakthrough is the point or moment when a tunnel being excavated from both ends finally connects, marking the completion of a critical work.

Located between Virar and Boisar bullet train stations in Palghar, the 1.5-km-long MT-5 is the longest mountain tunnel in the project. It is almost 55% complete.

Of the 508-km length of the bullet train project, tunnels comprise 27.4 km. Of these, 21 km make up the underground tunnels while the total length of surface tunnels is 6.4 km. Surface tunnels include eight mountain tunnels, seven of which are in Maharashtra (6.05 km) while one is in Gujarat (350 meters).

Officials said that the excavation in the MT-5 tunnel was completed in 18 months. It was being excavated from both sides using a cutting-edge drill and blast method — the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).

NATM is used in places where rock formation is not uniform, requiring small-scale excavation through blasting with machinery being deployed on the basis of site conditions.

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Earlier, a breakthrough of a 4.88-km underground tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata was achieved in September 2025. This tunnel is part of a bigger, 21-km tunnel constructed between Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Shilphata in Maharashtra. This underground tunnel stretch also includes a 7-km long undersea section beneath the Thane Creek.

At present, work on all the tunnels is ongoing. In Maharashtra, Mountain Tunnel no. 1 (MT-1), which is 820 metres long, has achieved 15% physical progress while the 228-meter MT-2 is currently under preparatory works. MT-3, having a length of 1.4 km, has achieved 35.5% completion while 1.26 km MT-4 is 31% complete. Similarly, the 453 metre MT-6 has achieved 35% progress while 417 meters MT-7 is 28% complete.

The bullet train project spans 352 km in Gujarat and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and 156 km in Maharashtra. As of November 2025, the project has achieved 55.63% physical progress and 69.62% financial progress. To date, 412 km of foundation work, 405 km of piers, 344 km of girder-casting, and 330 km of girder-launching have been completed.

Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the first section of the bullet train project from Surat to Bilimora in Gujarat will be ready by August 15, 2027. The entire 508-km project is expected to be completed by December 2029.

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The foundation stone for the project was laid in September 2017. The total estimated cost is Rs 1.08 lakh crore.

Dheeraj Mishra

Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal Correspondent with the Business Bureau of The Indian Express. He plays a critical role in covering India's massive infrastructure sectors, providing in-depth reporting on the connectivity lifelines of the nation. Expertise & Focus Areas: Mishra’s journalism is focused on two of the country's most capital-intensive and public-facing ministries: Ministry of Railways: Tracking the operations, safety, and development of India's vast railway network. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways: Covering policy decisions, infrastructure projects, and highway development. What sets Mishra apart is his rigorous use of the Right to Information (RTI) Actas a primary tool for news gathering. By relying on official data and government records, he ensures a high degree of accuracy and trustworthiness in his reporting. This data-driven approach has resulted in numerous impactful reports that hold public institutions accountable and bring transparency to government operations. Find all stories by Dheeraj Mishra here ... Read More