The South-Central Zone of Indian Railways created record by building the longest electrified tunnel in 43 months, at the cost of ₹4.6bn. The new line will provide faster cargo delivery by reducing the distance from Krishnapatnam Port and its remote areas by 60 kms.
The 6.6 kms long tunnel is situated between Cherlopalli and Rapuru stations as the part of Obulavaripalli-Venkatachalam railway line. Presently the time taken by a freight train to travel distance of 113 kms from Krishnapatnam port to Obulavaripalli is ten hours, and the introduction of new line will reduce the time to half i.e. 5 hours.
South Central Railway General Manager Gajanan Mallya said: “The tunnel, an engineering marvel, is a pride for SCR zone. The new railway line is helpful for decongesting traffic on the Vijayawada-Gudur main line.”
The height of the tunnel is approximately 6.5m, with minimum height of the contact wire maintained at 5.2m. The tunnel is developed in the shape of ‘Horse-Shoe’ using the New Australian Tunneling Method (NATM). In addition, it compromises of ballastless tracks with bi-block sleepers and Vaslo fittings. OHE maintenance depot is set up at Rapuru along with tower-car shed. The tunnel is illuminated with LED lighting at every 10m and two traction power supply substations are located near Cherlopalli and Adurupalli.
Two freight trains successfully ran on June 25 marking the full-scale operation of the newly built electrified railway line between the two stations. This longest electrified tunnel is pivotal in the new railway line between Venkatachalam and Obulavaripalli, which facilitate in the freight operations of the zone. The new railway line provides viable connectivity between South Coast and West Coast. For more details you can visit www.scr.indianrailways.gov.in
