Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link

Jammu, Apr 8: The Northern Railway, which is executing the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project to connect Kashmir with the rail network, has achieved another milestone of connecting Reasi and Ramban districts via a tunnel.
The Railways successfully executed a breakthrough of Tunnel T-14 (Main Tunnel) between Sawalkote in Reasi and Sangaldan Station in Ramban districts on under construction Katra-Banihal Section of the project, a railways spokesperson said.
The breakthrough ceremony was done by a female employee Named Indu Paul Kaur of Awantipora from Kashmir, an Engineer in IRCON.
Congratulating the team, Shobhan Chaudhuri, General Manager Northern Railway said that the line and level of the tunnel are precisely achieved during the breakthrough of T-14. He informed that T-14 is a tunnel of length 6.284 Kilometers and the ends are located in two districts Reasi and Ramban.
“The tunnel portals are located in the remotest villages of district Reasi and Ramban with no road connectivity prior to the start of tunnel construction. The south portal (P-1) of Tunnel T-14 is located in Sawalkote village, Tehsil Arnas at a distance of 100 kilometers from district headquarters Reasi at an altitude of approx. 1070 m, while the North Portal (P-2) of the tunnel is located in Ind village, Tehsil Gool, District Ramban, at an altitude of approx.1150 m,” the officials said.
T-14 tunnel has two tubes, the main tunnel and the escape tunnel. The tunnel has been constructed using NATM (i.e. New Austrian Tunneling Method) methodology, which is an observational and sequential construction method.
The cross-section of the tunnel is a modified horseshoe shape. To facilitate the construction of this long tunnel, one adit of length 978 m has also been constructed.
The tunnel has a ruling gradient of 1 in 80 and a design speed of 100 kmph. As per International standards, Escape Tunnel is being constructed in parallel to the Main Tunnel, connected by cross passages at an interval of 375m to facilitate rescue, relief and restoration work.
The work of construction was entrusted by NR to M/s KONKAN Railway Corporation Ltd. from the South portal (P-1) and to M/s IRCON International Ltd. from the North portal (P-2).
The tunnel passes through complex geological conditions composing Murree Formation at the south end and Dolomite at the north end separated by the Subathu Formation.
Several Challenges were encountered in the course of construction such as shear zone, encountering flammable gases (methane), perched aquifer, highly jointed rock mass, and high ingress of water.
The team of experienced engineers of NR, KRCL& IRCON along with the executing agencies successfully negotiated all challenges and achieved this major breakthrough.
During construction activities of the tunnel, almost 65% of the workforce was locals, giving a boost to employment.
Approach roads were constructed to reach tunnel portal locations thereby connecting villages in the region which changed the overall socio-economic landscape.
Breakthrough has been achieved in the presence of S.P. Mahi CAO/USBRL along with officers of NR, KRCL, IRCON and Executing Agencies.
Out of the 272 km length of the Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) Project, 161 Km has already been commissioned and operationalized. The work of the intervening stretch of 111 Km between Katra Banihal Section traverses through the hilly terrain of the lower Himalayas, in which Geology is a major challenge.
It has several major bridges and very long tunnels and work is in progress at a rapid pace.
The breakthrough of this tunnel has been seen as an achievement of another milestone for this national project in making the dream of connecting the valley to the rest of India a success.