PROJECTS PIPELINE – GLOBAL
Of late, North-East Asia has finally taken the global lead among regions investing in major infrastructure with significant underground works. All costs are included in the development of the underground infrastructure assets, not only civil engineering and excavations but fit-out and equipment, and also early stage studies, planning and design development.
The region – where most of the infrastructure works-with-tunnels are focused in China and Japan – now has a project pipeline with a value of almost US$400 billion, according to the most recent analysis, covering Q3-2025*, from a sister division of T&TI’s in GlobalData plc. The prior quarter had a projects pipeline value of US$351 billion, and before that Q1 has US$327 billion. The surge is mainly due to investment by China, and within those sums the spend that is accelerating in project stages is Execution – with construction underway. Transport projects with tunnels dominate the overall project pipeline in China.
Western Europe and North-East Asia regions were on par in the GlobalData’s Q1-2025 analysis. But, since then North-East Asia has pulled ahead, markedly, led by China primarily. A year before, the figures for Q1- 2024 showed North-East Asia to be behind Western Europe, then the leader. But the gap had been closing as China pushed ahead with more projects. North- East Asia is now well ahead of Western Europe and has project pipeline value never seen elsewhere. It should be noted that, in global terms, the values of the project pipelines of North-West Asia and Western Europe are each, separately, far in excess of other regions for infrastructure investments involving major tunnel works.
Australasia ranks in third place and North America fourth, followed tightly by Middle East and North Africa (MENA), South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The third place position is recent for Australasia (Australia, New Zealand) since GlobalData’s Q1-2025 analysis, having been ranked fifth – narrowly – behind MENA and North America in the same quarter one year before.
Overall, more tunnel project activities in China and Australasia have pushed them up the table while Japan and Western Europe solidly hold their workload levels.
Asia has tunnelling activity spread throughout the region – including in South-East Asia (ranked sixth and led notably by Singapore and Indonesia) and South Asia (eight place; led by India, by a large margin).
Below, we look further at the data in how North-East Asia has become the leading region in terms of the value of the projects pipeline, and then spotlight a few projects from other countries in different parts of Asia.
PROJECTS PIPELINE: NORTH-EAST ASIA
Valued at US$395 billion, the North-East Asia region has the largest pipeline of tunnel-related construction projects globally, according to GlobalData’s Q3-2025 report. In prior quarters of 2025 the region’s pipeline values were US$351 billion (Q2) and US$328 billion (Q1), respectively. The increases were or the order of US$25 billion per quarter.
China
China holds the largest share of the Q3-2025 regional total, at US$285 billion, or about 72%. In those prior quarters its majority share was valued as follows: in Q2 almost US$241 billion, or 68%, of the regional total; and, in Q1 almost US$220 billion, or 67%.
A year before that quarter, in Q1-2024 the value of the pipeline of tunnel projects in China was US$174 billion, or 60% of the regional total of US$291 billion. In broad terms, the region’s pipeline of tunnelrelated projects has increased in value by a third since the end of 2023, though the value of China’s pipeline has jumped by more than 60% over the same period.
By far the largest portion of China’s pipeline is projects in the Execution stage. This Construction stage, in Q3-2025, accounted for US$184 billion or almost two-thirds of the total, followed far behind by the share in Planning (US$57 billion) and Pre- Execution (US$38 billion). There is little in Pre- Planning, relatively.
Back in Q1-2024, the value and share held by Execution was US$104 billion and 60%, respectively. Almost the entire pipeline is dominated by transport tunnel-related projects with the balance slightly favouring Railway & Metro Tunnels over Road Tunnels. Only a single digit percentage share, relatively, if Water & Sewerage Tunnels.
Japan
Japan holds the second largest share of the regional value pipeline of tunnel-related projects in North- East Asia. Even so, and at US$101 billion for the national total, that is down to almost one-third of China’s level of activity. The level was fairly steady over the quarters of 2025, and those were slightly down on that of Q1-2024 billion, at US$111 billion.
Here, too, the pipeline is heavily led by projects in the Execution stage. In Q3-2025 they accounted for US$65 billion or about two-thirds share of the total, followed by half as much (US$33 billion) in Planning. There was little in Pre-Execution and a negligible amount in Pre-Planning.
Back in Q1-2024, the main stages were also Execution and Planning, in a similar balance, though slightly higher in value in each case as the national total was higher. value and share held by Execution was US$104 billion and 60%, respectively.
Again, Transport tunnels are dominant – but in Japan share of Rail & Metro Tunnels almost fully accounts for the value of the pipeline. This dominance has been steadily so for some years.
Hong Kong, South Korea, Macao
The regional total pipeline also includes tunnelrelated infrastructure projects in Hong Kong, South Korea, Macao with, in the most recent quarter analysed, Q3-2025, had values of US$4.7 billion, US$3.8 billion and almost US$200 million. In Hong Kong the stages of the pipeline are split about 3:1 as Execution: Pre-Planning. South Korea, though, has more activity in Pre- Execution and Execution, and slightly less in Planning. For both, transport tunnels are the focus of their project pipelines.
PROJECTS PIPELINE: SOUTH ASIA
The region of South-East Asia in the GlobalData analysis for Q3-2025 includes, in descending order of value of tunnel-related project pipelines, primarily, India and Pakistan, with some activity in Nepal (where there are growing numbers of TBM tunnelling successes in the Himalayas), and Sri Lanka.
For Q3-2025, GlobalData gave the total pipeline value for the region to by almost US$86 billion, with US$72 billion (nearly 85%) of activity in India and US$9 billion (11%) in Pakistan, respectively. The other two nations in the region held low single digit percentages of the total pipeline value.
The pipeline activities of all nations, though, are mainly in the Planning and Execution stages. In fact, for India and Pakistan it is the Planning stage that is largest, and substantially so, compared to the project value under Construction in each country, according to the analysis. There are many more tunnel projects that are to be in construction, therefore, later this decade.
Only in Nepal is the balance the other way – with Execution stage value more than Planning. Like elsewhere, development of Transport projects is the main activity for India, where the balance is slightly more towards Rail & Metro Tunnels over Road Tunnels.
PROJECTS PIPELINE: SOUTH-EAST ASIA
The region of South-East Asia includes, in descending order of value of tunnel-related project pipelines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam.
For the quarter, GlobalData gave the total pipeline value for the region at almost US$100 billion, with about 45% with Singapore and 31% in Indonesia. The other nations held single digit percentages of pipeline value.
However, there is a marked difference in where the value sits in pipelines of the two leading nations: in the analysis, Singapore is given to be entirely in Execution stage, although it does have more projects in development; Indonesia has activities in all stages of its development pipeline but by far the largest is Planning. There is much design work underway and construction coming up in Indonesia.
As elsewhere, Transport projects hold the biggest share of the pipeline by value and once again the principal area is Rail & Metro Tunnels, although in Singapore and Indonesia, respectively, there is relatively substantial spend on Road Tunnels.
RECENT PROJECTS IN ASIA: MILESTONES
As noted, many tunnel projects are underway in countries across Asia, and we spotlight a few recent milestone events on some, below.
India
Breakthrough was achieved in Q3 to complete the NATM stretch of tunnelling on India’s 21km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project.
The NATM tunnel is 5km-long on the rail project, and is located in the project section between Ghansoli and Shilphata. The works involved excavation through complex geology along this section of the rail tunnel.
In preparation for the NATM tunnelling, a 394m-long inclined adit was excavated and completed in in Q2-2024. Following breakthrough, construction activities on the NATM section have moved on to waterproofing, lining and finishing works.
The remaining 16km of the rail tunnel will be excavated by TBM. The tunnel includes a 7km stretch under Thane Creek, said to be India’s first undersea tunnel. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project will connect Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex and Shilphata in Maharashtra. It is being developed by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL).
Malaysia
Completion of tunnelling was recently celebrated at the 16.4km-long Genting Tunnel on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, in Malaysia, and also the finish of all underground excavations along the 665km-long route.
The Genting Tunnel is the longest tunnel on the new rail link between Kota Bharu, Kelantan and Port Klang, Selangor, and most technically challenging of the 41 tunnels on ECRL. It is also the longest rail tunnel in Malaysia.
Located in the Titiwangsa mountains, Genting Tunnel passes through fault lines and pockets of chlorite rock.
Overburden is up to 750m. Excavation was performed by TBM boring and Drill and Blast Method. Project client Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) said Genting Tunnel is a key component of the ‘land bridge’ to connect Kuantan Port and Port Klang, on east and west coasts respectively of Peninsular Malaysia.
ECRL is due for completion by late 2026 for phased start of passenger services from January 2027, starting between Kota Bharu, in Kelantan, and Gombak, in Selangor.
Thailand
Tunnelling works were recently completed for the Chiang Mai Flood Mitigation Project (Phase 2) in Thailand for the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning. The works centred on a 2.6m-diameter, 256m-long drainage tunnel, designed to integrate with Chiang Mai’s existing stormwater network. The package also included construction of shafts, steel pipe connections, HDPE pipeline installation, hydraulic structures, and surface drainage channels.
The project was delivered by Summit Grade Ltd, Part. (Sam Prasit), with subcontractor SCG 199. Terratec provided technical expertise, the TBM and segments, and equipment support. Project supervisor was Panya Consultant.
Vietnam
In mid-2025, breakthrough was achieved by Ghella on the first metro with a section underground in the capital, Hanoi. TBM ‘Than Toc’ (‘Flash’) reached Station S11 on the Pilot Light Metro Line 3. Arrival of the 6.6m-diameter Herrenknecht earth pressure balance (EPB) machine marked 80% completion of excavation. Two shields are boring the project’s twin tube tunnels. Pilot Light Metro Line 3 extends 12.5km, connecting Nhon, located in the Tay Tuu neighborhood of Nam Tu Liem district, in western Hanoi, to Hanoi station. The line consists of a 4km-long underground portion. Four of the stations are underground: Kim Ma; Cat Linh; Van Mieu; and, Hanoi.
Singapore
Civil construction works for Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line (CRL) in Singapore have officially commenced recently with ground-breaking at the future Clementi station.
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has is developing the CRL Phase 2 (CRL2) project to extend the metro line westwards, adding 15km on to the 29km operating under Phase 1.
Development of Phase 2 will involve construction of six underground stations, two of which are to be interchanges. The CRL King Albert Park station is to connect commuters to the Downtown Line (DTL), and will be Singapore’s deepest metro station; CRL Clementi station is to link with the East-West Line (EWL).
A 5km-long tunnel is to be constructed by TBM, of 12.8m-diameter, between CRL Bright Hill and CR14 stations, and passing below the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, (CCNR). Tunnelling works towards the CCNR started in Q2-2025, along with ongoing ground improvement works.
LTA has awarded nine civil contracts for the construction of CRL2.
The CRL2 extension is planned to be completed and brought into service by 2032.
