In Uttarakhand, India’s longest rail tunnel measuring 14.57 kilometers between Devprayag and Janasu has been completed 15 months ahead of schedule. The tunnel is part of the ambitious 125 km Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project, set for completion by December 2026. The work was executed jointly by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and Larsen & Toubro (L\&T).
According to TBM operators Baljinder Singh and Ram Avatar Singh Rana, the biggest challenge came when a sudden landslide hit inside the tunnel, forcing the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) to run at 1.3 lakh kilonewtons instead of the usual 50–60 thousand. The machine was operated non-stop in 12-hour shifts for 10 days to overcome the crisis.
The tunnel was completed on April 16, 2025, finishing 12 days before its target date. For the first time, a TBM was used in the Himalayan region for railway tunnel construction. Teams led by Chandrabhan Bhagat and Sandeep Mishra constructed a 13.09 km downline tunnel, completed in June 2025. L\&T confirmed that out of 30 km of tunnels, 70% were built using TBM technology and 30% by drill-and-blast methods.
