India's longest escape tunnel on Banihal-Katra rail link completed

The 12.89 km tunnel, India's longest escape tunnel, was finished on Thursday on the 111 km under-construction Banihal-Katra railway line in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. It is a component of the highly regarded Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project. This is the fourth tunnel on the Banihal-Katra line, following the 12.75 km tunnel T-49 (India's longest tunnel) that was finished in January of this year. Officials said the 'T-13' escape tunnel was built to help with rescue efforts in the event of an emergency. The world's highest rail bridge over the Chenab river in the Kouri area of Reasi district reached a milestone on August 14 when the overarch deck was completed with a golden joint. The breakthrough was accomplished with the use of a blast, and with it, work on the escape tunnel began. After successfully navigating major cavity development, the building of the escape tunnel (12.895 km) for the longest rail tunnel T-49 between Khari and Banihal stations of Katra under the USBRL project was finished. This is India's longest escape tunnel, and its line and level are exact. It is a modified horseshoe-shaped tunnel connecting the Sumber station yard on the south side with tunnel T-50 on the north side after passing bridge number 4 across Khoda nullah at Khoda hamlet. Sumber's south end has an elevation of around 1400.5 m, while the north end has an elevation of 1558.84 m. Tunnel T-49 is a twin tube tunnel with a main tunnel (12.75 km) and an escape tunnel (12.895 km) connected by 33 cross-passages. Several obstacles were encountered during construction, including a shear zone, perched aquifer, heavily jointed rock mass, and considerable water infiltration, among others. Out of the total 272 km of the USBRL project, 161 km has already been commissioned and operationalized. The work of balance 111 km between Katra and Banihal is under progress at a rapid pace. Also Read Puducherry to get facelift under Swadesh Darshan Scheme Gadkari promises road projects worth Rs 3 trillion in Kerala