Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewed progress of the Ahmedabad-Dholera Semi High-Speed Rail Connectivity Project in Ahmedabad on Sunday, officials said. The project is being developed as a prototype for semi high-speed rail systems across the country and is intended to provide fast and efficient connectivity between Ahmedabad and the Dholera Special Investment Region. The minister inspected the alignment and progress reports for the Western Railway sections involved.

The minister reviewed the Sarkhej-Dholera doubling section and a 134 kilometre (km) spur line that will connect the National Maritime Heritage Complex and Dholera Airport, officials said. The line will be built on a 1676 millimetre (mm) broad gauge section and is designed to support passenger services with a maximum speed of 220 kilometres per hour and freight services operating at 100 kilometres per hour on the same track. Officials described it as the world's first semi high-speed rail system on such a broad gauge with a mixed traffic arrangement for freight and passenger trains and noted its role in developing Dholera as a hub for semiconductor and solar component manufacturing.

Gujarat is one of the leading states in installed solar energy capacity and plans to expand output, which is expected to increase demand for solar components. The project will provide industries with faster and seamless connectivity to domestic markets and facilitate movement of trained manpower between Ahmedabad and the emerging satellite city of Dholera. Proposed logistics zones and multimodal connectivity, together with a four-lane access-controlled expressway and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, are expected to link suppliers to markets and shorten access to export gateways such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

Chief Administrative Officer Construction Pradeep Gupta of Western Railway briefed the minister on progress and timelines. Through this prototype, authorities aim to inform future semi high-speed projects nationwide and to ensure that industrial growth in the region is supported by rapid passenger and freight services. The official release attributed the details to PTI.