Srinagar-Katra Train Services To Commence Soon

A historic milestone is set to be achieved today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first Vande Bharat Express train to Kashmir on the Srinagar-Katra railway track, which boasts several major engineering milestones, including the world's highest railway bridge, India’s longest transportation tunnel, and the country's first cable-stayed bridge.

The Central government has been looking to provide an alternative and all-weather transport to Jammu & Kashmir and planned the 326 km long railway line from Jammu to Baramulla to join the Kashmir valley with the rest of India under two projects of Jammu-Udhampur Rail link project (JURL) of 54km length and Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link Project (USBRL) of 272km.

 It was in the year 2002 that the USBRL was declared a “national project".  It involved the daunting task of constructing a network of tunnels and bridges through flinty surfaces to connect the Kashmir region with the rest of the country with the train network.

The project has seen several Prime Ministers inaugurating parts of it, before the final leg of the network will now see the Kashmir region connected through the pilgrimage center of Vaishno Devi with Jammu and Delhi.

Officials in the Northern Railways said that it was nothing short of a historic feat. “It is a proud achievement,” said a Railway official. Work on the project continued on several sections, which were inaugurated from time to time.

The section from Qazigund to Baramulla (118 km) was commissioned in October 2009, and the one from Qazigund to Banihal (18 Km) was opened for the public on June 26, 2013. Earlier, the Udhampur to Katra (25 Km) stretch was opened to traffic by the Prime Minister on July 4, 2014. Trains will run tomorrow on the 111-kilometer stretch, the Katra-Banihal section, which was seen to be one of the most difficult railway line sections undertaken in the country and involved laying of a broad tunnel network with   97.42 kilometers of the section (87%) interspersed with tunnels. 

The Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section of the Katra-Banihal section was commissioned on February 20, 2024, while the Katra-Sangaldan stretch will be thrown open today.

World’s Highest Railway Bridge

The Chenab bridge has been constructed in the Reasi district of Union territory and cuts through deep gorges of Chenab River near the Salal Hydro power dam, and has been built at a height of 359 m from the bed level (height of Qutab Minar is 72 m and of the Eiffel Tower is 324 m).  This is the highest railway bridge in the world, and for its “construction 2 cable cars having capacity of 20 MT each and 37 MT ran on 54mm cables laid across the river valley and connected through 127 m high pylon (tower) on Kauri end and 105 m on Bakkal end of the river.  The quantity of structural steel used for the Chenab bridge is 28,660 MT, which is quite huge,” said a document of the project formulated by Northern Railway.

 Longest Transportation Tunnel

The T-50 tunnel of the project, which is spread over a length of 12.77 km, is India’s longest transportation tunnel, comprising twin tubes of the Main Tunnel (MT) for train operations and a parallel Escape Tunnel (ET) for safety and rescue. "This tunnel is in the Sumber-Khari Section (14.1 km) of the Katra-Banihal section (111 KM) of the USBRL project, " official documents reveal. “Tunnel T-50 is a construction marvel. Excavated through Ramban and Ramsu formations, it encountered several challenging conditions resulting in excessive tunnel deformations,” documents said.

First Cable-Stayed Bridge

Part of the project is the Anji Khad Bridge, which is India’s first cable-stayed bridge connecting Katra and  Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir and has been built in a seismic-prone region. The bridge has support of 96 cables, having cable lengths varying from 82m to 295m, and the total weight for all 96 cables is 849 MT, and the total running length of all stay cable strands is 653 kilometers. The quantity of structural steel used for the Anji Bridge is 8,215 MT.

All Weather Connectivity

 The Kashmir to Katra train service is expected to enhance tourism footfall in the Union Territory and provide all-weather connectivity to the Kashmir region. Road connectivity to Kashmir has remained disrupted during winters due to landslides on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway and the Mughal Road.

According to officials, as part of the project, they have also given a permanent job in Railways to one of the family members, whose more than 75% of land was acquired, with the employment provided to more than 804 people. The project helped employ 8150 persons through contractors, and around 65% of employment was given to locals, with over 539 lakh man-days of employment generated so far. Further, more than 215 km of approach roads to work sites have been constructed, with these roads providing connectivity to 73 villages of far-flung areas.

 Project Cost

The sanctioned cost of the project was Rs 37,012 crore, with a cumulative expenditure of the USBRL project till April 2024 estimated to be Rs 39348 crore. Major expenditure had to be made on the Katra-Banihal section, and the cost was worked out to be Rs 30476 crore in view of the heavy tunnel work.