The Southern Railways has constructed a tunnel at an unmanned level crossing in the Nilgiri Mountain Range in a record time of 24-hours. This tunnel has been built to facilitate smooth movement of the centenary old Nilgiri Mountain Railway. The mountain train service was built by the British in 1908. There are more than 20 villages along the railway route of this train between Metuppalayam and Kallar.
The Southern Railways have taken steps to make alternative measures at all the railway crossings such that there is no need to man the gates. As part of the plan, an under bridge was constructed today in 24 hours. The construction of this bridge began near the Black Thunder Resort this morning after the train left to Ooty.
For the construction of this bridge, the rail tracks en-route were removed, a pit was dug and slabs were installed on the ground. On the concrete slabs, a prefabricated tunnel which measures 12 feet in length and 4 and a half meters in width and height was placed. In five hours, all the scheduled work was completed. It is reported that this evening when this train returned back from Ooty to Mettupalayam, it crossed the newly constructed bridge safely.