Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The trial run on the Katra-Budgam railway track of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) was completed on January 19 as the 18-coach trial train started at 8 a.m. from Katra railway station towards Kashmir.
“The trial 18-coach train has reached Budgam now and this completes the final trial run on the USBRL”, officials of the railway monitoring the trial run said here.
The ambitious USBRL was completed for Rs 41,000 crore. The track covers 326 Km out of which 111 Km section is in tunnels with the T-49 tunnel being 12.77 Km long, which is the longest railway tunnel in the country.
Indian Railways has made the world’s highest railway bridge over the Chenab River in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The iconic Chenab Bridge is 1,315m long having an arch span of 467m and a height of 359m above the river bed. The Chenab Rail Bridge is a steel and concrete arch bridge carrying a single-track railway line, located between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu Division.
The bridge spans the Chenab River at a height of 359 m (1,178 ft) above the river, making it the world’s highest rail bridge and the world’s highest arch. It is built between the Sangaldan Railway Station and the Reasi Railway Station.
Indian Railways has also built its first cable-stayed bridge over the Anji Khad. This bridge features a deck 331 meters above the riverbed and a main pylon height of 193 meters. Perched over the Anji Khad river that swells every monsoon season, the bridge is supported by a single pylon, a large vertical tower-like structure soaring 1,086 feet from the river bed similar to the height of a 77-storey building.
Surrounded on both sides by mountain peaks, the construction site is subject to billowing, and gusty winds. The entire USBRL is the most challenging task completed successfully by the Indian Railways. It is probably the most challenging rail link ever built in the world over such a long distance between treacherous mountains, rivers and difficult topography and weather.
The USBRL will boost the horticulture, agriculture, tourism, trade, and education of students and also make travel easy and affordable for the average citizen between Kashmir and the rest of the country.
This project is also one of the most powerful infrastructures integrating J&K with other parts of the country. The Vande Bharat train will chug between Katra and Baramulla the day the inauguration is done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the final date of the inauguration is yet to be officially announced.
