E-Paper
India’s longest escape tunnel constructed in J&K: 5 things to know
The tunnel is part of the prestigious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project.
The Indian Railways has completed a 12.8- km tunnel, which is the longest escape tunnel of India, on the 111 km under-construction Banihal-Katra railway line in Jammu and Kashmir, a government statement said. The breakthrough was executed by conducting a blast and with it, the work on the escape tunnel was started.
The tunnel is part of the prestigious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project.
Here is everything you need to know about the longest escape tunnel:
1) The escape tunnel 'T-13' has been constructed to facilitate rescue work in case of an emergency.
2) The escape tunnel passes through various distributaries of the Chenab River like Khoda, Hingni, Kundan nallah etc.
3) The Tunnel T-49 is a twin tube tunnel comprising the main tunnel (12.75 Kms.) and escape tunnel (12.895 Kms.) connected with 33 numbers of cross-passages.
4) This is the fourth tunnel on the Banihal-Katra route. In January this year, a 12.75 km tunnel called T-49 was completed. It has been constructed by the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), a modern technique of drill and blast processes.
5) The horseshoe-shaped escape tunnel connects the Sumber station yard on the south side and tunnel T-50. The elevation of the south end at Sumber is approximately 1400.5 meters and of the north end is 1558.84 meters.
