PM Narendra Modi to open Kashmir railway link on June 6

The stage is set for historic rail linking of the Kashmir valley and the rest of the country with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to inaugurate two Vande Bharat trains connecting Katra in Jammu with Baramulla in north Kashmir this week.

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The PM will visit Jammu and Kashmir on June 6 to dedicate to the nation the Kashmir rail link plan conceived nearly three decades ago.

This will be the PM’s first visit to J&K after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 male civilians, leading to Operation Sindoor in which nine terror hubs were destroyed in Pakistan and the PoK.

The PM will start by inaugurating the world’s highest railway bridge, the Chenab bridge, part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link (USBRL) project, for direct rail link to the Valley.

The USBRL is a dream project worth Rs 35,000 crore and on dedication to the nation, it will connect Anantnag, Pulwama, Sopian, Badgam, Srinagar and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir with the railway network. The project was sanctioned in 1994-95 and the work began in 1997.

After throwing open the world’s highest bridge on June 6, the PM is expected to travel by train to Katra, where pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine gather.

From here, the PM will flag off two specially designed Vande Bharat trains — connecting Katra with Baramulla and another from Baramulla to Katra.

He will also address a public rally in Katra.

Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh today confirmed the PM’s visit and said the mighty Chenab bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge, stood tall in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the USBRL and had been built to withstand nature’s toughest tests.

“History in the making, just three days to go...PM Modi will inaugurate the Chenab bridge on June 6. The bridge is a proud symbol of new India’s strength and vision,” he said.

The Chenab bridge boasts of several striking features. It spans the Chenab at a height of 359 metres (1,178 ft) above the river, which is 35 metres taller than Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

The arch bridge between Bakkal and Kauri in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir is 1,178 ft above the riverbed, forming a crucial link from Katra to Banihal. It is part of the USBRL, a dream project worth Rs 35,000 crore.

The bridge had passed all mandatory safety tests, the Railway Ministry said, and would see the light of day after two decades of waiting. The project was approved in 2003 but was delayed due to fears of stability and safety.

In 2008, the contract for constructing one of the highest railway bridges was awarded.

Government officials said the tests that had been conducted to check the stability and safety of the bridge included high-velocity winds test, extreme temperatures test, earthquake-prone test and hydrological impacts due to water level increase.

Once inaugurated for operations, the bridge will be able to withstand winds with speeds up to 260 kmph and will have a lifespan of 120 years.

“The construction of the highest railway bridge was the biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history. Over the past three years, engineers have been building the arch with the help of two mammoth cable cranes installed on both banks of the Chenab — the Kauri end and the Bakkal end,” the officials said.

Meanwhile, it will be after 133 years that the dream of Dogra rulers will come true when PM Modi will show the green flag to the train that will connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country on June 6.

According to officials, the first idea for building a narrow gauge rail link to the Valley was mooted over a century ago, when the foundation stone was laid for the Jammu-Srinagar rail link by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1892 and later in 1898 by Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

“Four viable routes were found to link Punjab with Srinagar and the Valley — the Banihal route from Jammu, the Poonch route via the Jhelum valley, the Panjar route from Rawalpindi, also via the Jhelum valley, and the Abbottabad route from Kalako Serai though Hazara in the upper Jhelum valley. Detailed surveys were conducted for a mix of metre and broad gauge tracks. However, the inhospitable climate, the tricky terrain, restricted resources and history confined this idea to survey reports and drawing boards,” an official said.

In 1905, the British also revisited the idea and Maharaja Pratap Singh agreed to the line between Jammu and Srinagar via Reasi following the Mughal road. This plan envisaged a narrow gauge track to cross the Pir Panjal range, but the project remained just a dream.

The project was considered several times after Independence also, but it was only in 1981 that sanction was given for the Jammu-Udhampur rail link project.

In 1994-95, the final rail link between Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla was sanctioned and in 2002, the Centre declared this railway line a national project.