Vande Bharat train to run on Jammu-Srinagar route

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Reasi, March 26

Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the Vande Bharat Metro trains, proposed to provide quick link between metro cities, would be launched between Srinagar and Jammu once the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project became fully operational. The government has also decided to set up a Vande Bharat maintenance unit at Budgam, he said.

Along with railway officials, the minister took a ride in the track-mounted trolley amid cheering and shouts of “Bharat Mata ki jay” by local BJP workers. The journey from Bakkal to Kowrie side of Chenab bridge signifies the first travel by a wheel-mounted vehicle moving on rail on the 1.315-km bridge. “Tracks were laid on the bridge last week,” said Sanjay Revankar, Chief Engineer of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL).

“The bridge is ready,” said Sanjay Gupt, CMD, KRCL, which has been executing the project on behalf of the Northern Railway.

Built at the cost of Rs 16,000 crore, the bridge is being touted as the world’s highest railway arch bridge. Its height from the river bed is 359 metres. “It is higher than the Eiffel Tower,” Vaishnaw said. A part of the 111-km Katra-Banihal section of USBRL project, the bridge will make Srinagar accessible by train from Jammu and the rest of the country. The Katra-Banihal section has 27 tunnels and 37 bridges. The Chenab bridge (Bridge 44) is one of the special bridges on the project.

The minister is hoping that the USBRL project will be ready by the end of this year or early next year. Vande Bharat Express, the swanky semi-high speed train started by the Modi government, will be among the first trains to be introduced on this route once it is thrown open, Vaishnaw said.

Noting that the bridge is in a highly seismic prone zone, Vaishnaw said the bridge had been constructed in such a way that it could withstand tremor measuring up to eight on the Richter scale.

The steel fabrication of the bridge weighs 28,660 MT. It can withstand windspeed of 266 kmph (maximum windspeed recorded in the area is 115 kmph). Trains can run at a speed of up to 100 kmph on the bridge. “The PM has said the bridge should have a life of at least 100 years. Now, the life of the bridge has been estimated to be 120 years,” Vaishnaw said.

He said that an academy would be set up in Jammu to train personnel about the maintenance of the bridge. Railway staff from other regions can also receive training at the academy.

At least 120-year lifespan

• According to the Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the life of the world’s highest arch bridge on the Chenab river has been estimated to be 120 years.
• The 1.315-km bridge can withstand a windspeed of 266 kmph. Trains can run at a speed of up to 100 kmph on the bridge. Its steel fabrication weighs 28,660 MT