Odisha: Breakthrough of final tunnel on Khurda Road-Balangir rail line achieved

Bhubaneswar, Jun 1 (PTI) The Khurda Road-Balangir new rail line project achieved a major milestone with the successful breakthrough of the final tunnel located between Buguda and Daspalla in Odisha's Nayagarh district, the East Coast Railway said in a statement.

The breakthrough, or 'daylighting', was successfully achieved on Friday, marking the completion of excavation work across all seven planned tunnels in this strategic railway corridor, it said.

Tunnel No 2 (T2), with a length of 1,775 metres with a 2-degree curve, has been constructed in a new technological method called New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM), the statement said.

The ECoR said that T2 is the second-longest tunnel in Nayagarh district. It was constructed using advanced technology and tunnelling methods to overcome the challenging Eastern Ghats, setting a new benchmark in infrastructure execution for Indian Railways.

With the completion of T2, the breakthrough of all seven tunnels in the 75-km stretch between Daspalla and Purunakatak has now been achieved, it said.

The total length of all seven tunnels is 12.76 km, of which three tunnels are located in Nayagarh district and the remaining four in Boudh district.

Construction of these tunnels involved tackling multiple complex challenges including highly variable soil and rock conditions and passing through wild zones, the statement added.

The new railway line project spans 301 km and significant portions of the project -- Khurda Road to Daspalla (106 km) and Balangir to Purunakatak (120 km) have been completed while the remaining stretch of 75 km from Purunakatak to Adhenigarh is under progress, it said.

Completion of the final segment will establish seamless railway connectivity between eastern and western Odisha, bringing extensive benefits to both passenger and freight traffic.

Once fully operational, the railway line will reduce travel time between Bhubaneswar and Balangir, improve access to education, healthcare, and markets, stimulate trade and regional development, and support freight movement across Odisha and beyond, the statement added. PTI BBM BBM ACD