Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail Corridor: Rail Minister reviews factory making track slabs for bullet train project

Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday inspected a track slab manufacturing factory at Kim village near Surat that will produce high precision track slabs for the c or the bullet train, pushing forth the ‘Make in India’ pitch of the ambitious project.

The state-of-the-art high capacity factory — spread over a total area of 19 acres — will produce ‘high capacity ballastless tracks’ using advanced Shinkansen technology. Speaking to reporters at the plant, Vaishnaw said, “The tracks to be laid for the bullet train need to be of high precision and so Japanese technology was brought in to build these slabs. Initially, the equipment used to make these slabs were brought in from Japan. However, later on, we have started manufacturing the equipment. This is now one of the world’s largest factories manufacturing tracks. The workers involved in the construction are highly skilled and have maintained a very high quality of testing.”

Vaishnaw added that the ‘precision construction’ that was happening at the village would not just benefit the bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai but also other construction projects in future where such specialised construction would be needed.

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According to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL), the government agency executing the bullet train project, the factory at Kim is playing a crucial role in producing tracks for the 237 km of high speed railway track in Gujarat and Dadra Nagar Haveli as it is located close to the project site and helps in timely delivery of track slabs for the project.

The Railways Minister also visited a facility of Plasser India, an Austrian company involved in the manufacture of track maintenance machines, at Karjan near Vadodara.