Kashmir Rail ProjectChallenges, solutions and current status

Presented By:Pankaj Kumar

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

J&K

• 345 km long railway line for linking the Kashmir Valley.

• Biggest project to be undertaken by IR since independence

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

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

• The initial deadline was for 2009. Various delays pushed it to 2012 and now extended to 2020

Project Details• There will be 30 stations and they will be served by 10 to 12 trains

a day

• Being built to the Indian standard gauge of 1,676mm gauge, laid on concrete sleepers with continuous welded rail and with a minimum curve radius of 676m

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

• Maximum line speed is 100km/h (60mph).

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

Challenges• 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

• 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• 345km route crosses major earthquake zones,

and is subjected to extreme temperatures of cold and heat, as well as inhospitable terrain

• Extreme winters with heavy snowfalls

• Kashmir is an electricity scarce region at present

• Young Himalayas, where geology is poor and changes occur frequently.

Challenges• 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.

• In Katra-Quazigund a significant part of the project lies in tunnels, with the longest being about 10.96 km.

• There will be several bridges. The tallest bridge is about 359 m above bed level and is over 1.3 km in length over river Chenab

• 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

• Regions the line passes through are continuing to face terrorist challenges

• 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

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

• 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 sections• Jammu-Udhampur Rail Link Project (53 km) – Leg 0

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

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

– Leg-1 – Udhampur-Katra section (25 km )• involves about 10.9 km of tunneling. Nine major bridges, 29 minor bridges and 10

ROB/RUBs, in addition to about 38.86 lac cum of earthwork• approximate cost of this stretch is Rs. 640 cr. • tallest bridge in this section is 90 m high (Br. No. 20) and the longest tunnel (T-80) is 3.15

km long.

Project Sub sections• Leg-2 – Katra-Quazigund (148 km)

– toughest sector, ever been constructed on the Indian Railways– full of tunnels and bridges/viaducts. Terrain in this region is full of poor geology and

faults. – 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 1.3 km. This will be about 359 m above the bed level of the river

– 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

– At Quazigund end of this stretch, the longest tunnel on Indian Railways is being constructed (Pir Panjal Tunnel). This tunnel is 10.95 km long and will pierce through the Pir Panjal range below the snow line.

• Leg 3-Quazigund-Baramulla (119 km)

– falls in the Kashmir Valley, which is a natural bowl, surrounded by the mountain ranges– there are no tunnels, heavy bridging is required across rivers, canals and roads– 64 major bridges and 640 minor bridges in this section– completed in October 2009

Rolling Stock• Freight services conveying grain and petroleum products will run in

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

• 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.

• 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 20°C during winter.

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

Rolling Stock (contd…)• 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.

• The driver's 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.

• 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 1,400-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

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

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

• 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, i.e. 6 km is on normal ground

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

• 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

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

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

Financials

• Till April 2011, 7,165 crore had already been spent. While the budget for last year was 1,000 crore, it has been marginally raised to 1,100 crore for current fiscal

• 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 Rs30.7bn ($569.3m) to Rs112bn ($2.1bn).

• The Indian Government has cleared a proposal to earmark Rs190bn ($3.5bn) of additional funds (Jan 2012)

Infrastructure and construction• Total of over 750 bridges and over 100

kilometres (62 mi) of tunnels, the longest of which is about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in length

• The greatest engineering challenges involve the crossing of the Chenab river, which involves building a 1,315-metre-long (4,314 ft) bridge 359 metres (1,178 ft) above the river bed, and the crossing of the Anji Khad, which involves building a 657-metre-long (2,156 ft) bridge 186 metres (610 ft) above the river bed

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)• At 10.96km long, the Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel is India's longest

and Asia's 2nd longest tunnel• passes through the Pir Panjal mountain range in Jammu and

Kashmir in India• aimed at reducing the travel distance between Quazigund and

Banihal to only 11 km• cover the distance from the south to the north side of the

mountain in 6.6 minutes• Completed in October 2011• Cost of Rs10bn ($201.8m)• Construction of the tunnel was carried out by Hindustan

Construction Company and took over six years

Pir Panjal Tunnel(T-80)• 8.4m-wide and 7.3m-high tunnel and is up to 1 100 m below the

surface• construction of a 3m-wide road that runs alongside the railway

tunnel for maintenance and emergency evacuation• 100 percent water-proof and is also equipped with fire fighting

system throughout its entire length• construction of the tunnel started in November 2005 and was

complete in 2011• The fascinating fact about the tunnel excavation is that the total

excavated quantity was equal to one mountain• 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

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

Chenab Bridge• 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

• Chenab bridge is 1.3 km long and has the third largest arch span in the world. At 1,178 feet, it will be the highest bridge in the world once completed

• Located near the Salal Hydro Power Dam, the bridge was originally planned as a 1,315 metre-long bridge having 17 spans

• Afcons Infrastructure Limited was awarded the contract for the bridge.

• 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

• The Railways decided to stick to the location it had originally chosen to construct the Chenab Bridge — 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 & Casualities• June 2004 — Sudhir Kumar Pundir, an IRCON Engineer and his brother Sanjay

were kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in the valley

• June 2005 — Altaf Hussain, A laborer working in a Tunnel at Tathyar (HCC) was killed by a collapse. Two others were injured.

• May 16, 2007 —daughter of Mushtaq Ahmad Wagay and daughter of Mohammad Ayub Wani (9 & 7 yrs)drowned in a ditch constructed by Railway Company

• Feb 14, 2008 — 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

• Apr 18, 2008 — 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

• Mar 27, 2011 — 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

• The USBRL project is divided into four sections:

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

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

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

• 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