Dahej Bhavnagar railway sea link bridge

The Dahej Bhavnagar railway sea link bridge is a planned bridge in Gujarat, India.

Background

In 2004, the original idea of building a railway bridge between Dahej and Ghogha in Gujarat was first proposed to Railway Ministry by mechanical engineer Vikram Zaveri. Details of the project were published in a Gujarati newspaper Janmabhoomi on 2 August 2004. In 2009, ferry service was approved by the Gujarat State Government on the same location and was inaugurated by PM Modi in 2017.

The 2004 proposal for the railway bridge was sent again to PM Modi in 2017, who forwarded it to S. C. Jain of Executive Director Works, Railway Bhavan. His response was posted on pgportal.gov.in on 23 April 2018.

On 26 February 2025, Ravi Varma (@RailDuniya on X) and on 13 March 2025 "Mantavya News", "DeshGujarat" and others announced that Railway Ministry has approved 1 Cr. (INR 10 million) for Final Location Survey (FLS) of 40 km Dahej Bhavnagar railway Sea Link project, and 23.1 Crs. (INR 231 million) for FLS of three related coastal line projects (924 Km). These two survey projects appear in Western Railway Document > Latest Status of Project & Survey 2025. FLS-Target date of completion. Sea Link Project: March 31, 2026. Coastal line Projects: December 31, 2026.

Status of Final Location Survey (FLS)

Survey and Construction, Western Railway, CAO (C) CCG’s letter No. E-office 662242 dated 02.08.2025 sent to Railway Board for dropping of this survey.

59 FLS for Sea link between Dahej - Bhavnagar (40 Km)

As per terms of reference of Civil Engineering, the work cannot be done within this sanctioned cost. Out of 40 km, about 30 km is in Bay of Khambhat, requiring special survey under sea. Through market survey & discussion, actual cost to prepare estimate for survey work is being assessed. Budgetary quotation collected. Proposal being processed for revised cost of survey involving Rs 11 crores against present sanctioned cost of Rs 1 crore.

60 FLS for Coastal Lines of Dahej-Jambusar-Kathana- Khammbhat, Dholera- Bhavnagar, Bhavnagar- Mahuva-Pipavav & Pipavav- Chhara-Somnath- Saradia- Porbandar-Dwarka- Okha (924 Km)

FLS Tender under invitation.

Location and Length of the bridge

Location of proposed Dahej Bhavnagar railway sea link bridge

If the proposed sea link bridge is built along a straight line connecting Dahej and Bhavnagar port, then the length of the bridge over the waters of the Gulf of Khambhat will be about 30.8 Km, and if it is built along a straight line connecting Dahej and Ghogha, then the length of the bridge over the waters will be about 26.1 Km.

Other Comparable Structures

• The New Pamban Bridge in Tamil Nadu, India, spanning 2.07 km, is currently the world's longest railway bridge over the sea. • Donghai Bridge in China is counted among the longest cross-sea bridges. Total length 32.5 km. • Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu) expressway bridge, the longest over the sea bridge in India. 18.2 km. • The Channel Tunnel (50.46 km), UK - France, has the longest continuous underwater portion of any railway tunnel, at 37.9 km. • The Seikan Tunnel in Japan is the longest railway tunnel (53.85 km.) with an under-sea section of 23.3 km. Connects the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido.

TBM Tunnel under Brahmaputra

On February 14, 2026, Govt. of India, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), cleared Rs 18,662 crore underwater road-rail tunnel under Brahmaputra river in Assam. Twin Tube TBM Tunnel with Railway in one of the tubes, length 15.79 km. Total project length 33.77 km. (PIB press release)