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The
Jamalpur
Tunnel,
also
described
as
the
Monghyr
Tunnel
,
was
constructed
in
1860-61
as
part
of
the
East
Indian
Railway
(EIR)
expansion
from
Howrah
towards
Delhi,
when
opened
it
was
the
EIR's
first
tunnel.
The
railway
had
reached
Rajmahal
in
1860,
proceeded
westward
following
the
Ganges
River
reaching
Bhagalpur
in
1861,
Jamalpur
in
1862
and
finally
reaching
Delhi
in
1866
[1]
[2]
The
route
required
the
construction
of
a
tunnel
through
the
Rajmahal
range
to
cross
the
Jamalpur
hills
between
Jamalpur
and
Ratanpur.
The
broad
gauge(BG)
railway
was
single
track
with
crossing
places
and
included
the
single
track
275m
long
tunnel
[3].
The
growth
of
traffic
in
the
early
years
of
the
East
Indian
Railway
(EIR)
far
exceeded
expectations.
By
1866
the
railway
was
carrying
4
million
passengers
and
8000,000
tons
of
freight.
As
a
result
the
cost
of
upgrading
the
line,
and
the
tunnel,
to
dual
track
to
cope
with
the
traffic
and
in
order
to
shorten
the
route
the
'First
Chord
Line'
was
constructed.
When
completed
in
1871
it
connected
[[Raniganij]
with
Luckeesarai,
and
was
designated
as
the
mainline
from
Calcutta
to
Delhi
cutting
nearly
100
miles
of
the
distance
[4].
The
original
line,
which
included
the
Jamalpur
Tunnel,
became
the
Sahibganj
Loop
[4].
The
line
and
tunnel
is
still
in
use,
the
entire
section
has
upgraded
to
double
BG
track
but
through
the
existing
tunnel
only
single
BG
track
is
available.
In
order
to
have
double
track
for
operating
up
and
down
traffic
on
separate
lines
through
the
Jamalpur
hills,
another
tunnel
in
the
close
proximity
to
existing
tunnel
is
envisaged
