Tunnel Widening on the Central Railway

From The Hindu dated February 20, 1952.

Achievement by Indian Railway Engineers

A feat of construction which European engineers had considered from back in 1927 to be not possible, was achieved by young Indian Railway engineers on routes of the former Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) railway, which had since become part of the domain of the Central Railway of India. This was the widening of the tunnels on the track between Kalyan and Poona, and that between Kalyan and Iggatpuri. The widening of the tunnels had to be made on mountains of the Western Ghats on the Bhor and the Tull sections. Mr. K. Sitaraman, Executive Engineer of the Central Railway, explained in New Delhi at the annual session of the Institute of Engineers, that the challenge had lain in taking up and completing the work without holding up traffic on the track. The tracks were electrified sections, and special techniques had to be employed to widen the tunnels, and re-space the tracks. Mr. Sitaraman said that it was the first time in railway engineering anywhere in the world that such widening and improving of the track had been undertaken and completed without any serious disruption of the flow of normal traffic.