Abstract: In recent years, railway tunnels in karst areas have frequently suffered flooding after high-intensity rain? fall, which seriously affects the safety of tunnel operation and the order of transportation, and even interrupts the traffic. Based on the water hazard case in the Yuanbaoshan Tunnel on the Zhijin-Bijie Railway Line, this paper explores the causes of lining damage in terms of geology, rainfall, and the design and construction of water hazard sections, and puts forward the treatment technology for tunnel water hazards with the core concept of "making full use of existing structures and employing open drainage methods in key sections". Besides, this paper simulates and analyzes the formation of hazards and the treatment effect through numerical simulation. The results show that the subjective causes for the damage in tunnel linings include an insufficient understanding of the water-bearing formations at the geological investigation stage, the underestimation of water hazard risks posed by high-intensity rainfall during construction, and the unimproved waterproof and drainage system in the design alteration, while the objective reasons include the development of karst near the tunnel section that passes through the stratum, the strong connectivity of water conduits, and the high-intensity rainfall in a certain period of time on the tunnel site. As for the simulation results, they show that the increase of external water pressure caused by the sudden rise in groundwater level after rainstorm significantly increases the internal force of linings, and eventually leads to a much lower safety factor of sidewall linings and large scale damage, which is in consistency with the characteristics of the actual on-site damage. After on-site emergency treatment, the tunnel structure has become stable and even encountering unprecedentedly heavy rainfall twice, the tunnel has still remained in a good condition. Since then, no water hazards and other disasters have occurred, which proves that the treatment plan is valid.