Another feather in the cap of the Railways with the completion of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) in January. Not only this, Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely inaugurate Vande Bharat train connecting Kashmir to New Delhi on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) in January. According to officials, the Vande Bharat Express train will directly connect the national capital to the valley starting January 2025. The train will pass through the Chenab Rail Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge.
Singh further said the combined efforts of IRCON International Limited, responsible for the construction, and Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) for its technical expertise, have turned this engineering dream into reality. The Delhi to Kashmir Vande Bharat Express will have 11 AC 3-tier coaches, four AC 2-tier coaches, and one First AC coach.
The USBRL project, almost complete, will link Kashmir with the rest of the country. Of the total 272 kilometers, 161 kilometers were earlier commissioned in phases — the 118-km Qazigund-Baramulla section in October 2009, the 18-km Banihal-Qazigund section in June 2013, and the 25-km Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014.
The 48.1-km Banihal-Sangaldan stretch, part of the USBRL project, was dedicated to the public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2020.
The USBRL project, declared a “National Project” in 2002, spans 272 kilometers. The world”s highest railway bridge, located 359 meters above the Chenab riverbed, stands 35 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower. Spanning over 1.3 kilometers, it forms a critical part of the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, a segment of the Kashmir Railway project.
The world highest railway bridge, located 359 meters above the Chenab riverbed, stands 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Spanning over 1. 3 kilometers, it forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla section of the Kashmir Railway project, officials said.