Northern Railway achieves breakthrough of Escape Tunnel T-13 in J&K

Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager Northern Railway, informed that Northern Railway has achieved a major milestone in the USBRL project by executing break-through of Escape Tunnel T-13 between Dugga and Basindadhar Station on the ongoing Katra-Banihal Section.

Breakthrough of Escape Tunnel, T-13 having a length of 9.1 kms and 4.6 metre diameter in a modified horseshoe shape was achieved on 2nd Aug 22, making it completely through from both portals.

The breakthrough of this 9.1 km long rescue tunnel has been successfully achieved in 5 years’ time by winning over all sorts of challenges. As per International railway standards, an Escape tunnel is provided in parallel and having size relatively smaller than the main tunnel having length more than 3 kms.

The breakthrough of this escape 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.

The major challenges faced during the construction of this escape tunnel were hostile terrain & remote location, weak and fractured geology embedded with surprises in lower Himalayas, inclement weather conditions and last but not the least social problems.