As indicated by the Northern Railways, the fundamental passage of the Katra-Banihal segment T-49 was effectively associated among Sumber and Arpinchala stations. After its finishing the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) super venture will be the longest passage of the Indian Railways.
The Northern Railways said in a statement that, “Through this a major milestone has been achieved by the Indian Railways. It is really worthy to mention that line and level of the tunnel is precisely achieved in break-through.”
The major highlights are:
(a) It is 12.758 km long surpassing the 11.2 km long Pir Panjal Tunnel on the Banihal-Qazigund section. (b) The south portal of Tunnel T-49 is located in the picturesque Sumber village at a distance of 45km from the district headquarters Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 1400m and the north portal of the tunnel is located near Arpinchala village of Khari tehsil, Ramban district, in Mahu-Mangat Valley at an altitude of about 1,600m. (c) T-49 tunnel has two tubes: the main tunnel and an escape tunnel. (d) It has been constructed by the new Austrian tunneling method (NATM) which used a modern drilling and blast technique. The cross-section profile of the tunnel is a modified horseshoe-shaped. (e) The Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) project is set to be 272-km long, of which 161km has already been commissioned and operationalised.
