Japan's minister inspects Ahmedabad Metro project

Japan's Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, Tsukasa Akimoto visited Ahmedabad on Saturday to take stock of the on-going progress being made on Indo-Japan speed rail project.

He visited Ahmedabad's railway station and the construction site of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) project.

Akimoto said, " It is the most difficult and complex site for construction. I see that Indians have an interest and expectations from Japanese in regard to this project. Now, I understand Japan has a bigger responsibility to reach expectations of Indians. When I go back to Japan, I will convey this enthusiasm and expectations of Indians to Japanese Government."

He added that Japan will cooperate with India on the MAHSR project.

"Even Japan is helping Indian Railways to enhance safety in railways. Today, when we reached the site, I saw everyone was wearing safety gear as we had also insisted on ensuring safety at work. I was happy with the focus on safety as life is important. Japan will continue to cooperate with India in this project. (India's) National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHRC) and Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) have been doing good work. I was happy that I could come to Ahmedabad."

MEGA or the Ahmedabad Metro is an under construction mass-transit rail system for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.