Mumbai: In a major milestone for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project, the cutterhead of the second Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the upcoming 21-km underground tunnel section was lowered at Sawli near Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai on Saturday. The massive component, weighing around 350 tonnes and measuring 13.6 metres in diameter, will be used for excavation between Sawli and Vikhroli.
First TBM Lowered Earlier
The lowering of the cutterhead marks the final stage of the primary assembly of the TBM’s main shield. Officials said the machine will now undergo final assembly and commissioning trials before tunnelling work begins in the first week of July 2026. Earlier this week, the cutterhead of the first TBM was lowered at Vikhroli.
The two giant slurry-based TBMs are among the largest tunnelling machines being used in India’s infrastructure sector. Each machine is more than 95 metres long and weighs over 3,000 tonnes. The cutterhead has been specially designed to excavate a single large tunnel that will accommodate both up and down railway lines of the high-speed corridor.
Designed for Single Large Tunnel
According to project officials, the cutterhead is equipped with 84 cutter discs, 124 scrapers and 16 bucket lips to cut through rock and soil while simultaneously removing muck during excavation. The TBMs can operate at a maximum cutterhead speed of 4 RPM and excavate up to 49 mm per minute in controlled conditions.
The underground tunnel section is considered one of the most technically challenging parts of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train corridor. The use of such high-capacity TBMs is expected to speed up tunnelling work while ensuring better safety and precision in densely populated urban stretches near Mumbai.
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