MT-07 mountain tunnel breakthrough has moved the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project into another important phase in Maharashtra. The 417-metre tunnel in Palghar district also confirms that all three mountain tunnels between Vapi and Boisar have now been excavated.

MT-07 mountain tunnel breakthrough for Bullet Train
Photo: NHSRCL

According to the Ministry of Railways release published through PIB, NHSRCL completed the breakthrough at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka, within one of the more complex stretches of India’s first high-speed rail corridor. The tunnel is 14.4 metres wide and has been built for both up and down tracks, so high-speed trains can move in both directions between Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

MT-07 mountain tunnel breakthrough strengthens a key corridor section

MT-07 sits on the section between Vapi and Boisar Bullet Train stations, where work has advanced quickly in recent months. With this breakthrough, all three mountain tunnels on this stretch have now reached excavation completion, giving the project another clear marker of progress.

The section matters because it runs through an industrial belt connecting Maharashtra and Gujarat. That makes the Vapi–Boisar stretch an important part of the wider Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project, both in engineering terms and within the overall alignment of the corridor.

Controlled excavation and safety monitoring inside MT-07

Construction teams excavated the MT-07 tunnel from both ends using a controlled drilling and blasting method. During the work, engineers used monitoring systems and geotechnical equipment to follow tunnel behaviour, ground movement and structural stability as excavation moved forward.

A real-time monitoring arrangement was also in place throughout the process. It included Surface Settlement Points, 3D targets, strain gauges and seismographs, which helped measure vibrations and assess how excavation activity affected nearby structures.

Worker safety remained central to the tunnel programme. Ventilation systems, fire protection measures, controlled access arrangements and continuous geotechnical checks were used to maintain a secure environment inside the tunnel during construction.

Mountain tunnel status on the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project

The Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project includes eight mountain tunnels in total. The NHSRCL project overview identifies seven of them in Maharashtra’s Palghar district and one in Gujarat’s Valsad district.

MT-08, measuring 350 metres, achieved breakthrough on 5 October 2023. MT-07, measuring 417 metres, reached breakthrough on 1 June 2026, while MT-06, measuring 454 metres, achieved the same milestone on 3 February 2026.

MT-05, which is 1.5 km long, reached breakthrough on 2 January 2026. Work on MT-04 is nearly 60% complete, MT-03 has more than 80% of excavation completed, and construction on MT-02 and MT-01 is progressing steadily.

Taken together, these milestones show the pace of tunnel delivery on the corridor, especially in Maharashtra. Three mountain tunnels have been excavated within five months, underlining the momentum behind the Bullet Train corridor and its technically demanding sections.

The completion of MT-07 also reflects the project’s engineering capacity in challenging geological conditions. Because tunnel construction requires strict control of ground movement, vibration and worker safety, real-time monitoring remains central to progress on this part of the route.

The wider corridor context has also been covered in Railway Supply’s Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train overview. MT-07 mountain tunnel breakthrough is more than a single construction milestone. It marks another step toward the delivery of India’s first high-speed rail network, while work continues across the remaining mountain tunnel sections of the Mumbai–Ahmedabad corridor.