Infrastructure Longest Railway Bridges

🚆 Railway General Knowledge

Longest Railway Bridges in India & the World

(For all RRB – NTPC, Group-D, ALP, JE, RPF, Paramedical)

1️⃣ Why “Longest Bridges” Matter in RRB Papers

  • 1–2 direct GK questions appear every year
  • Stats (length, river, state, year) are asked as-match-the-following, direct MCQ or fill-in-blank
  • Bridge nomenclature (road-cum-rail, girder, extradosed, arch) is used in JE/ALP technical papers

2️⃣ India’s Top-15 Longest Railway / Road-cum-Rail Bridges

Rank Bridge Name River/Feature Railway Section Length (km) Opened State Key Fact*
1 Vembanad Rail Bridge Vembanad Lake Ernakulam–Kottayam 4.62 Feb 2011 Kerala Longest rail-only bridge in India
2 Bogibeel Rail-Road Bridge Brahmaputra Dibrugarh–Silapathar 4.94 (rail part 4.31) Dec 2018 Assam India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge
3 Nehru Setu (old) Sone Dehri-on-Sone–Garwa 3.06 1900 Jharkhand Longest till 2018
4 Godavari Arch Bridge Godavari Rajahmundry–Kovvur 2.75 1997 A.P. Arch-type, single-track
5 Pamban Road-cum-Rail Palk Strait Rameswaram Isl. 2.06 1914 Tamil Nadu India’s first sea bridge; now being rebuilt
6 Mahatma Gandhi Setu (rail on adjacent parallel) Ganga Patna–Hajipur 5.75 (road); rail 2.3 km ramp portion 1982 Bihar Road bridge; adjacent rail line uses approach
7 Digha–Sonpur Rail Bridge Ganga Digha–Sonpur 4.56 2016 Bihar Pure rail bridge parallel to road bridge
8 Sharavathi Bridge Sharavathi R. Konkan Railway 2.06 1997 Karnataka Longest bridge on Konkan route
9 Panval Nadi Viaduct Panval Nadi Konkan Railway 1.20 1995 Maharashtra 1st tallest (64 m) pier bridge then
10 Zuari Bridge (new rail parallel) Zuari Goa–Konkan 1.3 2023 Goa Part of doubling project
11 Ganga Rail Bridge at Munger Ganga Munger–Khagaria 3.19 2016 Bihar Rail only
12 Koilwar Bridge (old rail) Sone Koilwar–Arrah 1.44 1862 Bihar Oldest rail bridge in use
13 Chenab Rail Bridge (world’s highest rail) Chenab Katra–Reasi 0.473 (main span) 2022 J&K Height 359 m (arch)
14 Jubilee Bridge (heritage) Hooghly Naihati–Bandel 0.70 1887 W.B. Cantilever, still in use
15 Barapullah Rail Viaduct Yamuna flood-plains Delhi Ring-Rail 1.15 2010 Delhi Elevated approach for Nizamuddin

* Length = total continuous rail deck (km).
Source: Indian Railways Works Manual, Year Books, Press Releases 2023.

3️⃣ World’s Top-10 Longest Railway Bridges

Rank Bridge Country River/Place Length (km) Year Remark
1 Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge China Yangtze delta 164.8 2010 Beijing–Shanghai HSR (has rail)
2 Changhua–Kaohsiung Viaduct Taiwan West-coast line 157.3 2007 Seismic-proof rail
3 Cangde Grand Bridge China Beijing–Shanghai HSR 115.9 2010 Rail only
4 Tianjin Grand Bridge China Tianjin–Hebei 113.7 2010 Rail
5 Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge China Shaanxi 79.7 2008 Rail
6 Bang Na Express (rail on lower deck) Thailand Bangkok 54.0 2000 Road-cum-airport-rail
7 Beijing Grand Bridge China Beijing South link 48.1 2010 Rail
8 Metro Manila Viaduct Philippines PNR South 36.0 2022 Commuter rail
9 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (USA)* USA Lake Pontchartrain 38.4 1956 Road (no rail)
10 Vembanad Bridge India Kerala 4.62 2011 Longest in India

* Included for comparison only (no rail).

4️⃣ Quick-Fire Exam Facts (Memorise)

  • Longest rail-only bridge in India: Vembanad (4.62 km)
  • Longest rail-cum-road bridge in India: Bogibeel (4.94 km total; rail 4.31 km)
  • Highest rail bridge in world: Chenab (359 m above river)
  • Longest bridge in world (any type): Danyang–Kunshan (164.8 km)
  • First sea bridge of India: Pamban (1914)
  • Oldest rail bridge still in use: Koilwar (1862)
  • State with maximum long rail bridges over Ganga: Bihar (4 bridges – Digha, Munger, Rajendra, Ganga at Patna)
  • Konkan Railway’s longest bridge: Sharavathi (2.06 km)

5️⃣ Previous-Year RRB Questions (Memory-based)

Q1. Which is the longest railway bridge in India? (RRB NTPC 28.12.2020) Answer: Vembanad Rail Bridge (Kerala)
Q2. Bogibeel Bridge has been constructed over which river? (RRB JE 2019) Answer: Brahmaputra
Q3. Match: Bridge & State. (Group-D 2018) | Bridge | State | |---|---| | Pamban | Tamil Nadu | | Godavari Arch | Andhra Pradesh | | Sharavathi | Karnataka |

6️⃣ 15 Practice MCQs (with Answers)

  1. The total length of the Vembanad Rail Bridge is approximately
    A) 2.5 km
    B) 3.6 km
    C) 4.62 km
    D) 5.1 km
    Ans: C

  2. Bogibeel Bridge connects which two states?
    A) Assam–Arunachal Pradesh
    B) Assam–Nagaland
    C) Assam–Meghalaya
    D) Assam–Manipur
    Ans: A

  3. Which of the following is India’s first sea bridge carrying rail track?
    A) Pamban
    B) Bandra-Worli Sea-link
    C) Vembanad
    D) Bogibeel
    Ans: A

  4. The Chenab Railway Bridge, the world’s highest rail bridge, is situated in
    A) Himachal Pradesh
    B) Uttarakhand
    C) Jammu & Kashmir
    D) Ladakh
    Ans: C

  5. Nehru Setu (old) is built across the
    A) Ganga
    B) Yamuna
    C) Sone
    D) Godavari
    Ans: C

  6. In which year was the Godavari Arch Bridge opened for traffic?
    A) 1995
    B) 1997
    C) 1999
    D) 2001
    Ans: B

  7. Which Konkan Railway bridge crosses the Sharavathi River?
    A) Panval
    B) Zuari
    C) Sharavathi
    D) Mandovi
    Ans: C

  8. The Digha–Sonpur Rail Bridge reduced the rail distance between which two cities?
    A) Patna–Muzaffarpur
    B) Patna–Guwahati
    C) Patna–Sonpur
    D) Patna–Howrah
    Ans: C

  9. The world’s longest bridge (any type) is
    A) Changhua–Kaohsiung
    B) Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge
    C) Tianjin Grand Bridge
    D) Weinan Weihe
    Ans: B

  10. The rail deck length of Bogibeel Bridge is
    A) 3.06 km
    B) 4.31 km
    C) 4.94 km
    D) 5.75 km
    Ans: B

  11. Which of the following is NOT a rail-cum-road bridge?
    A) Bogibeel
    B) Pamban
    C) Mahatma Gandhi Setu
    D) Godavari Arch
    Ans: D

  12. Jubilee Bridge is located in
    A) Odisha
    B) West Bengal
    C) Jharkhand
    D) Bihar
    Ans: B

  13. The oldest railway bridge over the Sone River still in operation is
    A) Nehru Setu
    B) Koilwar Bridge
    C) Digha Bridge
    D) Rajendra Setu
    Ans: B

  14. Vembanad Bridge is entirely
    A) Road-cum-rail
    B) Road only
    C) Rail only
    D) Metro only
    Ans: C

  15. Match the pairs:

    1. Chenab Bridge ———— p. 359 m
    2. Pamban Bridge ———— q. 1914
    3. Sharavathi Bridge ——— r. Konkan Railway
    4. Bogibeel Bridge ———— s. Brahmaputra
      Correct code is
      A) 1-p, 2-q, 3-r, 4-s
      B) 1-p, 2-r, 3-q, 4-s
      C) 1-r, 2-p, 3-q, 4-s
      D) 1-s, 2-q, 3-r, 4-p
      Ans: A

7️⃣ One-Page Revision Card (Print & Paste)

  • India Longest Rail: Vembanad (4.62 km) – Kerala – 2011
  • India Longest Rail-cum-Road: Bogibeel (4.94 km) – Assam – 2018
  • Highest Rail Bridge: Chenab (359 m) – J&K – 2022
  • World Longest: Danyang–Kunshan (164.8 km) – China
  • Ganga rail bridges: Digha, Munger, Koilwar, Rajendra (all in Bihar)
  • Konkan big-3: Sharavathi (2.06 km), Panval (1.2 km), Zuari (1.3 km)

☕ Last-minute tip: In the exam, if “Pamban” is among options, check whether the question asks for “sea bridge” or “longest”; its length (2.06 km) is < Vembanad.

All the best – RRB Ki Taiyaari, Bridge Bana Lo!

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