Abstract: Most tunnels built in cold regions suffer from frost damages such as lining cracking, icing up on the side-wall and icy pavement, which seriously affect normal tunnel operation and threaten the safety of the tunnels.As a common water drainage method in cold areas, cold-proof drainage tunnels are widely used in tunnelling, but drainage effects are quite different for different tunnels due to minimal research of the mechanisms of cold-proof drainage tunnels and improper implementation of the cold-proofdrainage tunnels. By analyzing the roles of coldproof drainage tunnels in different permafrost situations, this paper presents the applicability of and design requirements for cold-proof drainage tunnels. Considering these drainage tunnels just function as water channels in stable frozen and local permafrost tunnels, a new section type and layout design for cold-proof drainage tunnels are proposed that reduce the construction cost of drainage systems and decrease the impact of cold-proof drainage tunnel construction on the safety and construction schedule of the main tunnel, protect the original state of the permafrost,and are favorable for the long-term stability of the tunnel structure.