Officials announced that an evacuation tunnel, as well as the main tunnel, had been successfully drilled, marking a significant achievement in the Sivok-Rangpo railway line project.
According to Sabyasachi De, Northeast Frontier Railways' Chief Public Relations Officer, this new rail link project is approximately 45 kilometres long and includes 14 tunnels, 13 major bridges, ten minor bridges, and four new stations.
About 38 km of the project's alignment is tunnelled, and 63% of the tunnelling work has already been completed.
"At present, all the activities related to the construction of tunnels, bridges, and station yards are going on a war footing basis to complete the project by end of next year," he added.
In the presence of the Project Director, Chief General Manager, and other officers of Ircon International Limited, Northeast Frontier Railway, the Amberg Engineering (Detail Design Consultancy) team, construction firm ABCI Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., as well as local administration, "Tunnel No. 11" in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal was bored.
Between Tarkhola and Tumlangkhola in Kalimpong, there is a main tunnel that is 3.2 km long and an evacuation tunnel that is 960 m long.
The lower Himalayas' complex and unstable geology is traversed by the tunnel. The New Austrian Tunnelling Method, the most advanced tunnelling technology, has been used in this and all other tunnels in the Sivok-Rangpo train project to combat the fragility of the groundmass.
Officials stated that the initiative "involves not just the best and most experienced experts from India, but also highly experienced foreign engineers."
This railway line would connect West Bengal's Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts, as well as Sikkim's Pakyong.
See also:
Indian Railways completes NATM tunneling in Rishikesh-Karnprayag line
Centre to construct first multi-modal railroad corridor in Northeast
