New Delhi: Indian Railways has achieved a major success in its goal of providing a reliable and alternative transport system to Jammu and Kashmir. under the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) has successfully constructed a 272 km long railway line from Baramulla to Udhampur. The project has been undertaken by the Indian Railways since independence. Considering the importance of the USBRL project in providing seamless and smooth connectivity, it was declared a ‘National Project’ in 2002. This line connects the Kashmir Valley to the Indian Railways network. The longest tunnel (T-49) has a length of 12.75 km. It is the longest transport tunnel in the country. The project also includes 927 bridges. These bridges also include the Chenab Bridge. Its total length is 1315 meters, the length of the arch is 467 meters and the height from the river bed is 359 meters. The USBRL project consists of 38 tunnels (total length 119 km). It is considered the world’s highest arch railway bridge.
The train ran at a speed of 40 km on the Chenab bridge
Northern Railway and Konkan Railway, Indian Railways successfully trialled a MEMU train (8 coaches) at a speed of 40 kmph on the electrified line section (route length 46 kms) between Sangaldan and Reasi in Ramban district. This is the newly constructed Chenab Bridge by senior officials of Railway Board.
The train crossed 9 tunnels routes
The trial started from Sangaldan at 12:35 pm and ended at Reasi at 2:05 pm. Enroute, it crossed 9 tunnels with a combined length of 40.787 km including the longest tunnel T-44 of 11.13 km. The entire train crossed the Chenab Bridge between Dugga and Bakkal stations, which is the world’s highest arch railway bridge. Railway electrification work on this section has been done at 25 kV with state-of-the-art technology ROCS (Rigid Overhead Conductor System), which is for the first time in indian history.
PM inaugurated
The USBRL project including the 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan section was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20, 2024. It includes the 118 km long Qazigund-Baramulla section. In subsequent phases, the 18 km long Banihal-Qazigund section was inaugurated in June 2013 and the 25 km long Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014. In subsequent phases, the 18 km long Banihal-Qazigund section was inaugurated in June 2013 and the 25 km long Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014. The first electric train was tested between Banihal and Sangaldan railway stations in Ramban on the Banihal-Katra section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project from Banihal- Khari to Sangaldan section. This section is about 40 km on February.
