Indian conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has broken through on India’s longest railway tunnel, linking Devprayag and Janasu in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The 14.5km-long Tunnel Number 8 forms part of the 125km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Broad Gauge Rail Link, under construction for Indian state-owned Rail Vikas Nigam.
The breakthrough was achieved by a single-shield Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) named Shakti, with a 9.11m-diameter bore head, making it the largest TBM to be deployed in the Himalayan region.
Shakti excavated 10.4km of the tunnel. The remainder was completed using the new Austrian tunnelling method.
The railway will connect Rishikesh, Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Gauchar and Karnaprayag across five Himalayan districts, cutting the current travel time from seven hours to two. It aims to improve Uttarakhand’s tourism and economy.
SV Desai, L&T’s director of civil infrastructure, said it was a “significant breakthrough in one of the most challenging terrains”, reflecting strong collaboration with the client.
L&T has previously worked on the second package of the rail line, which included 26.6km of tunnel excavation, building two railway bridges, one road bridge and embankments.
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