On the morning of January 21, the Keshiketeng Tunnel, the longest tunnel on the entire Jining-Tongliao Railway electrification renovation project, was successfully holed through, marking a key milestone in the Jining-Tongliao Railway electrification renovation project.

The photo shows construction personnel holding a celebration ceremony outside the Keshiketeng Tunnel for its successful holing-through.

The Keshiketeng Tunnel is located in Keshiketeng Banner, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is a single-tube double-track tunnel with a total length of 10.691 kilometers and a maximum burial depth of about 267 meters. The main tunnel of the Keshiketeng Tunnel passes through 9 fault fracture zones and crosses beneath existing railway lines 3 times, posing great construction difficulties and relatively high safety risks. To ensure construction safety, the construction unit adopted a series of measures such as advanced support pre-grouting and advanced densely arranged small conduits, strictly controlled the quality of key procedures, and effectively ensured the safe and smooth holing-through of the Keshiketeng Tunnel.

The Jining-Tongliao Railway is an important railway trunk line connecting the energy and material supply of Northeast, North China, and Northwest China. Electrification renovation began in April 2020. After completion, the transport capacity of the Jining-Tongliao Railway will increase from the current average of 27 pairs of trains per day to 40 pairs, the annual freight volume will increase from more than 36 million tons to more than 80 million tons, the speed of passenger trains will increase from 65 km/h to a maximum operating speed of 120 km/h, and the total travel time will be shortened by about 6 hours. It is of great significance for improving travel conditions for residents along the line in 4 leagues/cities and 13 banners/counties and for promoting the high-quality development of Inner Mongolia.