Traffic at Mumbai-Pune Expressway to be stopped for two hours on Friday for gantry work

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The traffic on the Pune-bound lanes of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra will be stopped for two hours on Friday to erect a gantry at Lonavala, an official said, according to the PTI.

The work will take place between 12 noon and 2pm and Pune-bound motorists are urged to exit the expressway at Khandala Ghat and re-enter it at Valavan toll plaza near Lonavala, a Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) release said on Thursday.

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The 95-kilometre expressway, which connects the state's two biggest cities, is the country's first access-controlled route and was operationalized in 2002.

Meanwhile, as part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, the construction of its ballastless track has started in Surat, said the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited in a release on Thursday, the PTI reported.

NHSRCL called the J-slab ballastless track system, used in Japan's high-speed rail system Shinkansen, a first in India.

As per the release, the construction of the RC bed for the track system has begun from Surat and it comprises a pre-cast track slab over which fastening devices and rails are fitted.

Once functional, the country's first bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai will run at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, covering the 508-km stretch in under three hours.

The track slab rests on the RC track bed, which has a thickness of approximately 300 mm and is 2420 mm wide. It is constructed in-situ (at site) for individual UP and Down track lines, said the release.

RC anchors are provided to avoid any longitudinal and lateral restraint to the track slab, said the release.

As per the release, in RC anchors, a reference pin is installed for achieving the desired alignment (both horizontal and vertical) suitable for train operation at 320 kmph.

The total cost of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project is pegged at Rs 1.08 lakh crore. As per the shareholding pattern, the Centre is to pay Rs 10,000 crore to NHSRCL, while Gujarat and Maharashtra are required to pay Rs 5,000 crore each. The rest is to be financed by Japan through a loan at 0.1 per cent interest.

(with PTI inputs)