India’s high-speed dreams are finally punching through the hills. As of Friday, January 2, 2026, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw virtually joined the celebration from New Delhi to witness a major engineering win: the breakthrough of Mountain Tunnel-5 (MT-5) in Maharashtra’s Palghar district.
The thing is, this isn’t just another hole in the ground. Or nothing. Let’s be real, this 1.5-km stretch between Virar and Boisar is the first mountain tunnel to be completed in the state for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) corridor. Those too.
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The “Mole” Log: Field Notes
It’s an ongoing situation where the project is slowly moving from “if” to “when.”
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The Breakthrough: It took 18 months of “drill-and-blast” to get through this 1,480-meter stretch.
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The Milestone: This is the second major tunnelling success in Maharashtra, following the 5-km Thane-to-BKC underground section finished back in September 2025.
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The “Kicker”: Vaishnaw stated today that everything between Thane and Ahmedabad is now clear. The only major technical “constraint” left is the 21-km undersea tunnel between Mumbai and Thane.
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The 2027 Countdown
And here’s the kicker: we finally have a hard date for the first ride.
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August 15, 2027: The Minister confirmed yesterday that the first section—the Surat-to-Bilimora stretch—will be ready for passengers on Independence Day.
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The Full Run: The entire 508-km journey will eventually shrink from 7 hours to just 2 hours and 17 minutes, with trains hitting 320 kmph.
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Middle-Class Pricing: Vaishnaw is promising fares will be “comfortable” for the average commuter, not just business travelers.
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Why the “Third Depot”?
There was a bit of a side-comment during the presser about planning.
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The Delay: Three depots are being built instead of the usual two for a 500-km line.
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The Politics: Vaishnaw blamed the previous state government (Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure) for withholding permissions for years, which forced the team to create “additional arrangements” to keep the project alive.
Basically, the “Japanese Shinkansen” tech is finally settling into Indian soil. If they keep this pace, you might actually be buying a ticket for that Surat-Bilimora ride by next year.
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