Launch of work for India’s first undersea tunnel milestone in 2023 for bullet train project: NHSRCL
Ahmedabad (PTI): The commencement of work for India’s first 7-km undersea rail passage, and completion of a mountain tunnel running up to 350 metres in just 10 months were among the milestones achieved for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project during 2023, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the project implementing authority National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRCL), the undersea route at Thane creek is part of a 21-km-long tunnel between the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai and Shilphata in Thane district.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe had launched the project in Ahmedabad on September 14, 2017. Once operational, the bullet train cover the 508-km route in 3-3.5 hours.
Completion of a mountain tunnel with a length of 350 metres and a diameter of 12.6 metres near Zaroli village of Valsad district in Gujarat was another highlight of the project in 2023, said NHSRCL in a release.
The laying of the first reinforced concrete (RC) track bed for the bullet train corridor, as used in Japanese Shinkansen, has started in Surat and Anand, and this is the first time the "J-slab ballastless" track system is being used in India, the release said.
Completion of work on six of 24 rivers and acquisition of nearly 99.95 per cent of total land for the project were among other achievements for the NHSRCL, it said.
In 2023, NHSRCL said, it awarded all civil contracts for the project covering 508 km in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Work on the eight stations in Gujarat on the corridor – Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati – are under various stages of construction, it said. The route will also have four stations in Maharashtra.
The project's first steel bridge, spanning 70 metres and weighing 673 MT, was erected across NH 53 in Surat and 16 such bridges out of 28 (including 17 in Gujarat and 11 in Maharashtra) are under various stages of fabrication, it said.
Civil works for the construction of the Mumbai high-speed rail station have started along with the works on Surat and Sabarmati high-speed rail depots. The Sabarmati multimodal transit hub is almost completed, said the NHSRCL release.
“Our Operations and Maintenance team is in Japan for training and recruitment of the first set of HSR pilots who will undergo their training in Japan,” it said.
The project covers a distance of 508 km, including 352 km in Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and 156 km in Maharashtra.
Apart from the 7-km-long undersea tunnel at Thane creek, the corridor will also have 24 river bridges, 28 steel bridges and seven mountain tunnels, it said.
The high-speed rail line is being built between Mumbai and Ahmedabad using Japan's Shinkansen technology, and the project aims to create a high-frequency mass transportation system.
The project has been funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) with a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore from Japan.
The Rs 1.1 lakh crore project was earlier expected to be completed by 2022 but faced hurdles in land acquisition. The government has set a target to run the first phase of the bullet train between Surat and Bilimora in south Gujarat by 2026.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
