On this Friday, the northern railways unveiled India’s longest tunnel piercing through rugged Pir Panjal mountains in Jammu & Kashmir. The tunnel is India’s longest and Asia’s 2nd longest tunnel.
The tunnel is part of rail link project between Udhampur and Qazigund of Northern Railways, which will now reduce the travelling distance between Banihal and Qazigund from 35 km to only 11 km.
The 11 km long tunnel is one of the modern tunnels of the world which is 100% water-proof and equipped with fire fighting system throughout its entire length.
The construction of the tunnel was started in November 2005 and it was completed in 2011. Now with this tunnel the trains would take only 6 minutes to travel the distance between Banihal and Qazigund.
