INDIA: National High Speed Rail Corp Ltd has awarded Larsen & Toubro’s Transportation Infrastructure business a further contract to supply and install ballastless track for the Mumbai – Ahmedabad high speed line.
Contract T1 covers the design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of 156 route-km of track between Mumbai (Bandra-Kurla complex) and Zaroli in Gujarat on a lump sum price basis. This section of the route includes 21 km in tunnel and 135 km on viaduct, with four stations and a rolling stock depot at Thane.
The contract announced by NHSRCL on September 11 is the second trackwork package that L&T has won for the project, following the award in April 2022 of Package T3 covering the 116 km from south of Vadodara city to Sabarmati depot. L&T is now responsible for providing more than 50% of the trackwork for the 508 km high speed line.
As with the earlier contract, the locally-manufactured trackwork will comply with the J-slab design used extensively on Japan’s Shinkansen network. The route is being designed for operating speeds of up to 320 km/h.
Commenting on the latest contract, SV Desai, Director & Senior EVP (Civil Infrastructure) at L&T, said ‘our success in T3 package involved rapid technology absorption, indigenisation of plant and machinery and value engineering. This has been a key factor in our approach to this new order, and we are confident of delivering on time.’
NHSRCL recently held a two-day workshop to discuss technical specifications and develop a strategic roadmap for the design and procurement of track and turnouts for future high speed rail projects, bringing together experts from India and abroad to discuss global best practice, interoperability, safety standards and life-cycle and maintenance costs.
- Subscribers can read an in-depth article on the use of J-slab track on the Indian high speed rail project from the January 2024 issue of Railway Gazette International.
