Longest rail and road tunnels in India | Fusion - WeRIndia

India has the second-largest road network after the US. At the same time, it is the fourth-largest national railway network in the world after the US, Russia, and China.

Here are some longest rail and road tunnels in India:

Atal Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh is the longest high-altitude road tunnel. It was formerly known as Rohtang Tunnel. It was renamed after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister of India, in 2019 on his birth anniversary. The tunnel was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020. This horseshoe-shaped tunnel was built under the Rohtang Pass, at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters. Its length is 8800 meters, and its width is 10 meters. The tunnel reduced the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 kilometres.

Pir Panjal Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir is the longest railway tunnel. It is also known as the T-80 Tunnel. Its length is 1,215 meters, and its width is 8½ meters. It is a single-track railway tunnel. It was opened in 2013. It takes around nine minutes to pass through the tunnel.

Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir is the longest road tunnel, located at an altitude of 1,200 meters. It is also known as Syama Tunnel. Its length is 9,280 meters, and its width is 13 meters. It was opened in 2017. It reduced the distance between Jammu and its capital Srinagar by 30 kilometres.

Trivandrum Port Railway Tunnel in Kerala is under construction. It will be the second the second-longest railway tunnel in India. Its length is 9020 meters. Initially, it was planned to construct a railway line parallel to the road, but later, it was changed. The authorities decided to construct an underground tunnel. The construction of the tunnel is likely to finish by 2022.

Image Credit: Owais khursheed / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pir_panjal_tunnel.jpg