India To Get Its Longest Transport Tunnel: 14.58-km Tunnel No. 8 Breakthrough Achieved In Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway Project
India To Get Its Longest Transport Tunnel: 14.58-km Tunnel No. 8 Breakthrough Achieved In Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway Project
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand: In a significant milestone for India’s infrastructure development, Tunnel No. 8 of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway Project has achieved a breakthrough and is set to become the country’s longest transport tunnel at 14.58 km. The tunnel-breaking ceremony, held today, was attended by Railway, IT & MeitY Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Uttarakhand Chief Minister, and local MP Shri Anil Baluni.
India To Get Its Longest Transport Tunnel: 14.58-km Tunnel No. 8 Breakthrough Achieved In Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway Project #RishikeshKarnaprayagRailwayProject #LongestTransportTunnelhttps://t.co/axwgqBZtGT pic.twitter.com/7IZbADUUc3
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Currently, India’s longest rail tunnel is the 12.75-km Khari-Sumber tunnel on the Katra-Banihal section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), while the Atal Tunnel, measuring 9.02 km, is the longest road tunnel on the Manali-Leh Highway.
Tunnel No. 8, part of the ambitious 125.20-km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag project, marks a major leap in rail connectivity through the Himalayan terrain. Approximately 83% of the route (104 km) lies in tunnels, with the project featuring 16 main tunnels, 12 escape tunnels, and multiple cross passages—totalling over 213 km in tunneling.
The tunnel’s construction navigated through complex Himalayan geology, including Chandpur Phyllite rock with significant squeezing zones and varying overburden depths from 70 m to nearly 1,000 m. The project also marks Indian Railways’ first successful deployment of a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in such challenging terrain. The TBM, with a 9.11-metre excavation diameter, tunneled 10.4 km while the remaining 4.11 km were excavated using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM).
Eight adits were constructed to facilitate simultaneous tunneling work, and the current tunneling progress across all segments—including escape tunnels and cross passages—stands at 195 km out of a total 213 km.
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Railway line will house 12 stations, 19 major bridges (eight of which are already complete), five key river crossings—including over the Ganga, Chandrabhaga, and Alaknanda—and 38 minor bridges. The longest railway bridge will span 0.5 km near Srinagar, while the tallest, over the Gauchar valley, will rise to 46.9 metres.
Tunnel construction faced multiple challenges including geological unpredictability, high water ingress zones with flows reaching 2000 lpm, and logistical constraints due to monsoon landslides and heavy pilgrimage traffic.
The section from Virbhadra to Yog Nagari Rishikesh was commissioned in March 2020. Full tunnel completion is targeted for FY 2026-27, after which track laying, electrification, and signaling work will commence.
The Rishikesh-Karnaprayag project is poised to enhance regional connectivity, facilitate pilgrim and tourist travel, and strengthen strategic transport infrastructure in northern India.
Reported by: Renuka Suryavanshi
M: 9881465579
