Infrastructure Railway Tunnels In India

Railway Tunnels in India – RRB Exam Capsule

(Infrastructure – Permanent Way & Engineering)

1. WHAT IS A RAILWAY TUNNEL? (DEFINITION FOR EXAMS)

  • A covered passage for rail movement through natural obstruction (hill/mountain/river) length ≥ 60 m (Indian Railways definition).
  • If < 60 m → “shed” or “gallery”, not tunnel.

2. TUNNEL CLASSIFICATION USED BY IR

Category Length (m) Examples
Short 60 – 250 39 on Kalka-Shimla
Medium 251 – 1,000 13 on Darjeeling-Himalayan
Long 1,001 – 3,000 Karbude, T-14 (Konkan)
Extra-Long > 3,000 Pir Panjal, Banihal, Sangaldan, Chenab, T-49 (USBRL)

3. ZONE-WISE TUNNEL COUNT (31-03-2023)

Zone Route kms No. of Tunnels Remarks
NR 7,112 104 USBRL, Jammu-Udhampur
NFR 4,197 56 Darjeeling-Himalayan, Lumding-Silchar
SR 5,118 51 Palakkad-Pollachi, Southern Ghats
CR 3,911 46 Konkan Railway
WR 5,464 20 Mumbai-Pune, Rajkot-Veraval
SCR 3,473 18 Nallamala hills
SECR 2,479 10 Bilaspur-Katni
Others — < 10 each —
TOTAL IR — 327 —

4. SUPERLATIVE TABLE – MUST MEMORISE

Parameter Tunnel Details
Longest rail tunnel Pir Panjal (T-80) 11.215 km (Banihal-Qazigund, NR, commissioned Dec-2013)
2nd longest Sangaldan (T-50) 8.035 km (USBRL, commissioned 2023)
3rd longest Karbude 6.506 km (Konkan Railway, CR)
Highest altitude Chenab Bridge approach (T-13) 1,350 m above MSL
Oldest in use T-No.1 (Kalka-Shimla) 1903, 96 m, UNESCO heritage
Longest under-construction T-49 (USBRL) 12.775 km (will replace Pir Panjal)

5. IMPORTANT RAILWAY TUNNELS WITH NUMBERS

Name / No. Railway Section Zone Length (m) Year Unique Point
Barog Kalka-Shimla NR 1,143 1903 Straightest (no curve inside)
T-14 (Karbude) Ratnagiri–Nivasar CR/Konkan 6,506 1997 Longest on KR till 2013
T-15 (Berthamadi) Karwar–Madgaon CR/Konkan 4,354 1997 Karwar naval base approach
T-27 (Patalganga) Panvel–Roha CR/Konkan 3,389 1998 Passes under Patalganga river
T-12 (Savarde) Chiplun–Savarde CR/Konkan 3,429 1998 Twin tubes, NH-66 above
T-80 (Pir Panjal) Banihal-Qazigund NR 11,215 2013 1st trans-Pir Panjal rail
T-50 (Sangaldan) Sangaldan–Reasi NR 8,035 2023 90% TBM bored
T-49 (under construction) Khari-Dugga NR 12,775 — 13.3 m wide (double-line)
Bhairabi (T-1 to T-9) Bhairabi-Sairang NFR 2,960 (total 9) 2023 Mizoram rail link
Lumding–Silchar (T-45 to T-55) Lumding–Haflong–Silchar NFR 17 tunnels totalling 11.4 km 2015 Only broad-gauge land route to Barak valley

6. TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGIES ASKED IN RRB

  1. Drill & Blast – conventional, used in Himalayas (USBRL).
  2. NATM (New Austrian Tunnelling Method) – sequential excavation, adopted in 95% USBRL tunnels.
  3. TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) – Sangaldan, T-49 (Ø 11.74 m).
  4. Cut-&-Cover – near city stations (Mumbai metro, not mainline IR).

7. SAFETY & SIGNALLING FEATURES

  • OHE – 25 kV AC, rigid catenary inside Pir Panjal & Sangaldan.
  • Forced ventilation – jet fans @ 150 m c/s air flow.
  • SCADA – remote control of lighting & fans.
  • Emergency cross-passage – every 500 m (USBRL norm).
  • Ballastless track (RHEDA 2000) inside long tunnels for high speed.

8. WORLD vs INDIA COMPARISON (MEMORY TIP)

Rail tunnel Country Length India’s rank if same length
Seikan Japan 53.8 km —
Channel UK-France 50.5 km —
Gotthard Base Switzerland 57.1 km —
Pir Panjal India 11.2 km Would be 14th in world

9. FACTS ASKED IN PREVIOUS RRB CBT-2

  • Total rail tunnels in India – 327 (as on 31-03-2023).
  • Konkan Railway has 91 tunnels in 738 km (highest density).
  • Kalka-Shimla has 103 tunnels (longest 1,143 m, Barog).
  • Pir Panjal is 54 m below existing Jawahar road tunnel.
  • Chenab rail tunnel (T-13) is 11 km long, 8 km of which is in straight line.
  • USBRL project cost ≈ ₹35,000 cr (whole project, not only tunnels).
  • Darjeeling Himalayan Railway – 12 loops + 5 short tunnels.
  • NFR has 2 longest east-India tunnels – T-45 (3.2 km) & T-47 (2.8 km) on Lumding-Silchar.

10. QUICK-REVISE TABLES

A. State-wise Tally

State Major Tunnels Remarks
J&K 35 USBRL, Pir Panjal, Banihal, Sangaldan
HP 103 Kalka-Shimla, UNESCO
Maharashtra 91 Entire Konkan Railway
W.B. 14 Darjeeling-Himalayan, Sevoke-Rangpo (u/c)
Assam 11 Lumding-Silchar
Tamil Nadu 18 Palakkad-Pollachi, Southern Ghats
Others 55 —

B. Length Bucket

Bucket (km) No. % of total
>10 km 2 0.6
5–10 km 5 1.5
1–5 km 48 14.7
0.25–1 km 120 36.7
0.06–0.25 km 152 46.5

11. 15 MCQs – RRB PATTERN

(Choose the most appropriate option)

  1. The longest railway tunnel in India is
    A. Karbude
    B. Sangaldan
    C. Pir Panjal
    D. T-49
    Ans: C

  2. Konkan Railway falls under which railway zone?
    A. WR
    B. CR
    C. SR
    D. SWR
    Ans: B

  3. The total number of railway tunnels in India as on 31-03-2023 is approximately
    A. 227
    B. 327
    C. 427
    D. 527
    Ans: B

  4. Which tunnel connects Banihal with Qazigund?
    A. T-49
    B. T-80
    C. Barog
    D. T-14
    Ans: B

  5. The first rail tunnel built in India still in use today belongs to
    A. Kalka-Shimla Railway
    B. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
    C. Mumbai-Pune ghat
    D. Nilgiri Mountain Railway
    Ans: A

  6. The highest altitude railway tunnel of India is located in which mountain range?
    A. Western Ghats
    B. Pir Panjal
    C. Himalaya (Shivalik)
    D. Aravalli
    Ans: C

  7. Which method is predominantly used for USBRL tunnel construction?
    A. TBM only
    B. Drill & Blast only
    C. NATM
    D. Cut-and-cover
    Ans: C

  8. The length of Sangaldan tunnel is nearly
    A. 6.5 km
    B. 8.0 km
    C. 11.2 km
    D. 12.7 km
    Ans: B

  9. In which state is the Karbude tunnel situated?
    A. Goa
    B. Karnataka
    C. Maharashtra
    D. Kerala
    Ans: C

  10. The longest tunnel on Konkan Railway is
    A. T-15
    B. T-27
    C. T-14 (Karbude)
    D. T-12
    Ans: C

  11. Which of the following tunnels is NOT located in Jammu & Kashmir?
    A. Pir Panjal
    B. Sangaldan
    C. T-49
    D. Barog
    Ans: D

  12. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has how many tunnels?
    A. 5
    B. 12
    C. 14
    D. 103
    Ans: A

  13. The 25 kV OHE inside Pir Panjal tunnel uses
    A. Conventional catenary
    B. Rigid catenary
    C. Third rail
    D. Diesel only
    Ans: B

  14. The T-49 tunnel of USBRL project, when completed, will surpass which tunnel to become India’s longest?
    A. Karbude
    B. Sangaldan
    C. Pir Panjal
    D. Barog
    Ans: C

  15. The cut-off date for counting 327 tunnels in Indian Railways is
    A. 31-03-2022
    B. 31-03-2023
    C. 31-12-2022
    D. 01-04-2023
    Ans: B

12. ONE-LINE CRAM NOTES

  • 327 tunnels, Pir Panjal 11.2 km, CR has Konkan, NR has USBRL, Kalka-Shimla 103 tunnels, T-49 12.7 km (u/c), NATM in hills, Rigid OHE inside long tunnels, Emergency cross-passage every 500 m.

Keep revising these numbers & names – at least 1 question appears in every RRB CBT-2 from this topic.

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