Kashmir rail project

Kashmir Rail ProjectChallenges solutions and current status

Presented ByMeenakshi Gupta

Mahesh JainRitu Dubey

Kashmir Railway Project (KRP)bull To provide an alternative and reliable transportation system to

JampK

bull 345 km long railway line for linking the Kashmir Valley

bull Biggest project to be undertaken by IR since independence

bull Officially called Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Quazigund-Baramulla link (JUSBRL)

bull Under construction since 1994 was given the status of a national project in 2002 under the Vajpayee government

bull The initial deadline was for 2009 Various delays pushed it to 2012 and now extended to 2017

Project Detailsbull There will be 30 stations and they will be served by 10 to 12

trains a day

bull Being built to the Indian standard gauge of 1676mm gauge laid on concrete sleepers with continuous welded rail and with a minimum curve radius of 676m

bull A ruling gradient of 1 has been set to provide a safe smooth and reliable journey

bull Maximum line speed is 100kmh (60mph)

bull Cross a total of over 750 bridges and pass through over 100 kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels

Challengesbull There are various constraints such as allowable

maximum speed high gradients sharp curves stations to be kept for optimum utilization safety and minimum maintenance need in future in addition to the basic need for providing the link with the rest of the network

bull Projects in mountainous regions are associated with special features such as deep cuttings high embankments tall piers and long span bridges across deep gorges and fast flowing flash flood rivers with big boulders and unusually long tunnels etc

Challenges

bull 345km route crosses major earthquake zones and is subjected to extreme temperatures of cold and heat as well as inhospitable terrain

bull Extreme winters with heavy snowfalls

bull Kashmir is an electricity scarce region at present

bull Young Himalayas where geology is poor and changes occur frequently

Challengesbull Katra-Quazigund leg is the most difficult stretch of this project

In this leg Salal to Quazigund stretch lies in the territory where virtually no habitation road or tracking path existed

bull In Katra-Quazigund a significant part of the project lies in tunnels with the longest being about 1096 km

bull There will be several bridges The tallest bridge is about 359 m above bed level and is over 13 km in length over river Chenab

bull Water ingress problems have been seen in the Udhampur to Katra section This has required some drastic solutions using steel arches and several feet of shotcrete

Security Challenges

bull the regions the line passes through are continuing to face terrorist challenges

bull The train will pass through some of the most vulnerable areas in the Valley such as Budgam Pulwama Srinagar and Anantnag districts to which militants have clear and easy access in the absence of security

bull The presence of the international border with Pakistan close by aggravates these challenges

bull Plans for close circuit cameras at all major bridges tunnels and railway stations have been made Lighting is provided on all major bridges and inside tunnels

Project Sub sectionsbull Jammu-Udhampur Rail Link Project (53 km) ndash Leg 0

ndash sub-mountainous region ndash It is 53 km long and has 10 km length of tunnels 36 major bridges and 122 minor bridgesndash his stretch has already been completed and commissioned in April 2005ndash The completion cost of this stretch is Rs 522 crore

bull Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Project (202 km)

ndash Leg-1 ndash Udhampur-Katra section (25 km )bull involves about 109 km of tunneling Nine major bridges 29 minor bridges and 10

ROBRUBs in addition to about 3886 lac cum of earthworkbull approximate cost of this stretch is Rs 640 cr bull tallest bridge in this section is 90 m high (Br No 20) and the longest tunnel (T-80) is

315 km long

Project Sub sectionsbull Leg-2 ndash Katra-Quazigund (148 km)

ndash toughest sector ever been constructed on the Indian Railwaysndash full of tunnels and bridgesviaducts Terrain in this region is full of poor geology and

faults ndash On this section a bridge is being constructed across river Chenab which will have an

arched span of 465 m and a total length of the bridge is around 13 km This will be about 359 m above the bed level of the river

ndash The stretch between river Chenab and Banihal is through a virgin territory and requires construction of approximately 300 km of access roads of which about 110 km has already been constructed

ndash At Quazigund end of this stretch the longest tunnel on Indian Railways is being constructed (Pir Panjal Tunnel) This tunnel is 1095 km long and will pierce through the Pir Panjal range below the snow line

bull Leg 3-Quazigund-Baramulla (119 km)

ndash falls in the Kashmir Valley which is a natural bowl surrounded by the mountain rangesndash there are no tunnels heavy bridging is required across rivers canals and roadsndash 64 major bridges and 640 minor bridges in this sectionndash completed in October 2009

Rolling Stockbull Freight services conveying grain and petroleum products will run

in between 10- 12 passengers services that are planned to operate daily

bull An eight-coach DEMU will run on the Quazigund-Baramulla section of line Each coach will carry 90 passengers It will run twice a day in both directions

bull The train has been fixed with a snow cutter system for clearing snow on the track The temperature in coaches can also be maintained at 20degC during winter

bull Passenger services will be provided by the new aerodynamic High Power diesel multiple units with special features

Rolling Stock (contdhellip)bull The air-conditioned coaches have wide windows for a panoramic view

anti-skid flooring sliding doorways heating facilities an attractive colour scheme and executive class reclining seats inside

bull The drivers cabin has a heating and defogging unit to take care of cold climatic conditions and is fitted with single lookout glass windows to give a wider view

bull A snow-cutting type cattle guard has been attached at the driving end of the train for clearing snow from the tracks during winter In view of the peculiar climate of the valley the 1400-horsepower diesel engine for the train has been provided with a heating system for a quick and trouble-free start in the winters A public information system with display and announcement facilities are included in the coaches which have pneumatic suspension for better riding comfort There is also a compartment for physically challenged people with wider doors

bull Maintenance of all rolling stock and locomotives will be at the newly built Budgam workshop just north of Srinagar

Responsibilitybull Indian Railways is in charge of the Udhampur-Katra Section (25 km)

bull Konkan Railway Corporation Limited is in charge of the Katra-Laole Section (90 km) This is arguably the toughest portion of the railway with over 92 of the line either inside a tunnel or on a bridge The bridges comprise of 12 km the tunnels of 72 km and only a minuscule part of this tortuous stretch ie 6 km is on normal ground

bull IRCON a Public Sector railway construction company is in charge of the Laole-Baramulla Section (175 km) Another tough but less brutal section

bull HCC has won the tender to construct both the North and South Section of the 11 km Banihal tunnel across the Pir Panjal range for approx US$120 million Work is completed

bull AFCONS with Ultra Engineering (South Korea) will design and construct the Chenab Bridge for US$130 million

bull Gammon India with Archirodon Construction (South Africa) will build the Anji Khad Bridge for US$100 million

Financials

bull Till April 2011 7165 crore had already been spent While the budget for last year was 1000 crore it has been marginally raised to 1100 crore for current fiscal

bull Delay in the completion of the project led to an increase in the cost of requiring additional funds The Indian Government previously increased the projected cost of the railway line in 2007 upping the initial estimate of Rs307bn ($5693m) to Rs112bn ($21bn)

bull The Indian Government has cleared a proposal to earmark Rs190bn ($35bn) of additional funds (Jan 2012)

Infrastructure and constructionbull Total of over 750 bridges and over 100

kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels the longest of which is about 11 kilometres (68 mi) in length

bull The greatest engineering challenges involve the crossing of the Chenab river which involves building a 1315-metre-long (4314 ft) bridge 359 metres (1178 ft) above the river bed and the crossing of the Anji Khad which involves building a 657-metre-long (2156 ft) bridge 186 metres (610 ft) above the river bed

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)bull At 1096km long the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel is Indias longest and Asias 2nd

longest tunnel

bull passes through the Pir Panjal mountain range in Jammu and Kashmir in India

bull aimed at reducing the travel distance between Quazigund and Banihal to only 11 km

bull cover the distance from the south to the north side of the mountain in 66 minutes

bull Completed in October 2011

bull cost of Rs10bn ($2018m)

bull Construction of the tunnel was carried out by Hindustan Construction Company and took over six years

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)bull 84m-wide and 73m-high tunnel and is up to 1 100 m below the surface

bull construction of a 3m-wide road that runs alongside the railway tunnel for maintenance and emergency evacuation

bull 100 percent water-proof and is also equipped with fire fighting system throughout its entire length

bull construction of the tunnel started in November 2005 and was complete in 2011

bull The fascinating fact about the tunnel excavation is that the total excavated quantity was equal to one mountain

bull It runs 440m below the existing Jawahar Tunnel which is the only road link from the region to the rest of India meant for vehicular traffic only- which usually gets blocked during winters owing to heavy snowfall in the region

bull due to the changing geological strata of the young Himalayan rock New Australian Tunneling Methodology (NATM) was adopted for the construction

Chenab Bridgebull The Chenab Bridge will be the highest railway structure of its kind in the world

35 m higher than the tip of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

bull The Chenab bridge is 13 km long and has the third largest arch span in the world At 1178 feet it will be the highest bridge in the world once completed

bull Located near the Salal Hydro Power Dam the bridge was originally planned as a 1315 metre-long bridge having 17 spans

bull Afcons Infrastructure Limited was awarded the contract for the bridge

bull While deciding to stop all construction works on the Katra-Qazigund section in 2008 the Railway Ministry had proposed a change in the location of the bridge from the gorge to a wide valley two to three kilometers upstream of the original location Since the newly proposed location had a higher bed level the height of the bridge had it been constructed there would have come down to about 120-150 meters from river bed

bull The Railways decided to stick to the location it had originally chosen to construct the Chenab Bridge mdash billed as the highest in the world at a height of 359 metres from the river bed At 343 metres Millau Viaduct in France is the tallest bridge in the world

Operational Accidents amp Casualitiesbull June 2004 mdash Sudhir Kumar Pundir an IRCON Engineer and his brother Sanjay

were kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in the valley

bull June 2005 mdash Altaf Hussain A laborer working in a Tunnel at Tathyar (HCC) was killed by a collapse Two others were injured

bull May 16 2007 mdashdaughter of Mushtaq Ahmad Wagay and daughter of Mohammad Ayub Wani (9 amp 7 yrs)drowned in a ditch constructed by Railway Company

bull Feb 14 2008 mdash A Nepali labourer Tika Ram Balwari son of Tuya Narayan was killed after a boulder hit him in at Uri Varmul presumably on the Kashmir rail project for HCC

bull Apr 18 2008 mdash Six labourers of a private company engaged with the Katra-Qazigund railway line project were killed and two others received injuries when a tipper carrying them rolled down into a deep gorge in Lower Juda Morh near Kouri in Reasi district late at night

bull Mar 27 2011 mdash Two workers were killed at an under-construction railway bridge over the Chenab in Reasi district as a basket attached to a crane carrying them unhooked and fell from a height of more than 100 metres

Current Status

bull The USBRL project is divided into four sections

bull Leg 0 extending 53 kilometres (33 mi) from Jammu to Udhampur completed in April 2005

bull Leg 1 extending 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Udhampur to Katra Under construction may open in 2013

bull Leg 2 extending 148 kilometres (92 mi) from Katra to Qazigund Under construction may open in 2017

bull Leg 3 extending 119 kilometres (74 mi) from Qazigund to Baramulla completed in October 2009

Inauguration of Kashmir rail linkDate Section Length km

April 2005 Jammu - Udhampur Current Status

53

October 2008 Anantnag - Mazhom 66

February 2009 Mazhom - Baramulla 35

October 2009 Quazigund - Anantnag 18

Delayed owing to construction difficulties

Udhampur - Quazigund 167

Inauguration of Final section KVRbull Prime Minister Dr Manmohan

Singh flagged off a train from Anantnag to Quazigund to inaugurate the final 18 km of the railway through the Kashmir Valley on October 28 2009

bull The currently isolated line will eventually be joined to the Indian rail network at Udhampur providing an all -weather transport link between the state of Jammu amp Kashmir and the rest of India which has been designated as a national priority

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