The main tunnel of T-49, which is the longest tunnel of Indian Railways, between Sumber and Arpinchala station of Katra-Banihal section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project was connected successfully on 15 February 2022.
A major milestone has been achieved by executing break-through of Tunnel T49 between Sumber and Arpinchala Station on ongoing Katra-Banihal Section. Out of 272 km length of Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) project, 161 km has already been commissioned and operationalised.
T49 is a tunnel of length 12.758 km long and it is going to be the longest tunnel of Indian Railway surpassing Peer Panjal Tunnel of 11.2 km length constructed by USBRL on the Banihal-Qazigund section.
The South Portal of Tunnel T-49 is located in picturesque Sumber village at a distance of 45 km from H Q Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 1,400 mtr, while the North Portal of the tunnel is located near Arpinchala village Tehsil Khari, Ramban district, in Mahu-Mangat valley at an altitude of approximately 1,600 mtr.
The tunnel has two tubes -- one is the main tunnel and other being escape tunnel. The tunnel has been constructed by New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), which is a modern technique of drill and blast method. The cross-section profile of the tunnel is modified horseshoe-shaped.
The work of construction was entrusted by NR to Ircon International which has assigned works in two packages to HCC and Afcons Infrastructure. HCC is executing the work of 5.1 km length from South Portal and AFCONS is executing the length of 7.658 km from North Portal.