Umaisar Gull Ganie
Reasi, Dec 20: Northern Railways has achieved a major milestone on most difficult section with the breakthrough of 3.2-km-long single tube tunnel, located at Gunni -Sherwad in Katra-Reasi section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project, top officials said on Wednesday.
A top Northern Railway official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that under the USBRL project, a key milestone has been achieved with the breakthrough of 3209-meter long Tunnel-1 constructed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited for Northern Railway between Katra-Reasi stations.
With this breakthrough of Tunnel-1, Railways completed all the tunnels on the 111-kilometer-long Katra-Banihal railway line, the official said, adding that the work was held up on this crucial tunnel for over three years since 2017.
“The lining work and stoppages of water seepages in Tunnel-1 was the most challenging tasks. The varied Himalayan geology and the presence of deep riverine gorges in the section posed the toughest challenge for completing the tunnel work,” official added.
Railway Board Member (Infrastructure) Roop Narayan Sunkar said, “We had to work on 111 kilometres, with 97 kilometres dedicated to tunnelling. The work on the Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge, and the Ajni Bridge, the first cable-stayed rail bridge in the Katra-Banihal section, has been completed.”
“The work on Tunnel-1 was the most challenging due to its topography. Finally, a breakthrough has been achieved,” he said—(KNO)
