Pernem railway station

Pernem railway station (Station code: PERN) is a railway station in North Goa district of Goa state.

It is part of the Konkan Railway, in the town of Pernem in the North Goa district of Goa State and is under Karwar railway division of Konkan Railway zone, a subsidiary zone of Indian Railways.

History
The 5002 feet Pernem Tunnel on the line was begun in 1992, but had a lengthy history of repeated tunnel collapses that held up completion of the entire line through Pernem until 1998. The chief engineer of the tunnel construction was later to characterize it as "a job from hell", with repeated floods caused by monsoon weather that could wash away months of work in a matter of hours. Nine workers died during the Pernem Tunnel construction alone, out of the 74 deaths across the entire Konkan Railway project.

A 5 m section of the tunnel collapsed again in August 2020, and required 40 days work to restore service, reinforcing the tunnel with steel plates; all of which had to be done during the lockdown restrictions imposed to counter the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

On July 9, 2024 water was seen seeping into the tunnel at 14:35, leading to disruptions in the train services of Konkan Railways. The waterlogging caused was cleared and at 22:13, trains were allowed to pass through the tunnel at a speed of 5 Km/h. However, on the next day at 03:00, the issue reoccured. As of July 10, 2024 several trains have been cancelled or diverted and the tunnel has not yet been cleared.

Structure
It is located at 18 m above sea level and has two platforms. As of 2016, a single broad-gauge railway line exists at this station, and 14 trains stop at Pernem. The Goa Airport situated at Dabolim is at distance of 38 km from this railway station.