Railway launches ₹250-cr vertical lift sea-bridge in TN

The Indian Railways has commenced the construction of the country's first vertical lift railway sea-bridge at Pamban in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The construction work is to be completed within the next two years. The bridge will be 2.05 km long and link Mandapam on the mainland and Rameswaram at the Pamban Island. The project is being developed by Railway Vikas Nigam (RVNL) and its foundation stone was laid by the PM in March 2019 at Kanyakumari. The bridge will help the national transporter to operate trains at a higher speed and will allow trains to carry more weight on the route. It will maximize the traffic volume between Pamban and Rameswaram. The original Pamban railway bridge was commissioned in the year 1914 to connect Mandapam to the Rameswaram Island situated in the Gulf of Mannar and till the year 1988, it was the only surface link providing connectivity between the two locations until a new road bridge was built parallel to the link. The bridge had flaps that would open to allow the movement of ferries but it was not suitable to speed up-gradation, however, the new bridge will have a vertical shaft to allow ferries to pass under when the trains are not operating.