India's Longest "Escape Tunnel" Ready: Your 5-Point Guide

The escape tunnel has been constructed to facilitate rescue work in case of an emergency, according to railway officials. It passes through the Ramban formation of the Himalayas and besides this, various distributaries and drains of Chenab River like Khoda, Hingni, Kundan nallah cross all along the alignment, making drilling a highly challenging task, according to a government release.

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.

The horseshoe-shaped escape tunnel connects the Sumber station yard on the south side and tunnel T-50, according to a government release. The elevation of the south end at Sumber is approximately 1400.5 metres and of the north end is 1558.84 metres.

Tunnel T-49 is a twin tube tunnel comprising the main tunnel (12.75 km) and escape tunnel (12.895 km) connected with 33 cross-passages, according to railways.

The Banihal-Katra section is being constructed as part of the USBRL project. Out of the total 272 kilometres of the project, 161 km has already been commissioned and operationalised.