Mumbai: Excavation of Wavrely Tunnel completes one-km milestone

Wavrely tunnel

Work on the longest tunnel for Mumbai's suburban railway, called as Wavrely tunnel began in February 2023, completed a one-km milestone on Wednesday with an excavation of 1,002 m complete. The 2,625-meter (2.6 km) tunnel is one of the three key tunnels on the new double line for local trains that links Panvel and Karjat in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

The length of the new line is about 29.6km with five stations. The entire line has three tunnels, two rail flyovers, 44 major and minor bridges, 15 roads under bridges and seven road over bridges. The target date of completion is December 2025.

The three tunnels include Nadhal tunnel of 219m, the Wavrely tunnel of 2.6 km and the Kirawali tunnel of 300m are under construction as part of this project. At present, the Parsik tunnel between Thane and Diva is currently the longest (1.3 km) tunnel in the Mumbai suburban section. Work on the tunnel began in 1906 and was opened to traffic in 1916.

The excavation for the longest tunnel was completed for 1,002m (1km) on Wednesday. The Panvel-Karjat railway project is being executed by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 (MUTP-3). The new line is a part of the railways' efforts to reach untapped areas of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

"The track structure inside all the three tunnels will be on ballastless track with adequate public refuge areas, tunnel control system, lighting system & ventilation systems being constructed as par with contemporary international standards," an MRVC spokesperson said.

The existing old line caters to goods and a few long-distance passenger trains. The new double-line corridor will enable to run local trains between Mumbai to Karjat via Panvel. It will also work as a catalyst of the fast-developing Panvel, Karjat and NAINA areas (Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area).