Jammu: India’s longest railway link, USBRL (Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link) for connecting the Kashmir region with other parts of the country through railway including the world’s tallest bridge at Chenab district of Jammu and Kashmir will be operational next year as per officials.
The concerned officials working for the 111-kilomter-long Katra-Banihal section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of Indian Railways said the railway link will have seven railway stations.
The USBRL Project a 272 Km. long Railway Line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with the Indian Railways network under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link Project (USBRL) was planned by the Govt. of India and declared as “National Project” in 2002.
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The alignment of USBRL involves construction of a large number of Tunnels and Bridges in highly rugged and mountainous terrain with most difficult and complex Himalayan geology.
It involves 38 Tunnels (combined length of 119Km), the longest Tunnel (T-49) is having a length of 12.75 Km and is country’s longest transportation tunnel.
“The 272 kilometres long railway link project is being built at a cost of Rs 28,000 crore under the Northern Railway zone. The project will connect Kashmir to the rest of India and is expected to be completed by 2023,” officials said.
Out of 272 kilometres, the Qazigund-Baramulla link is of 118 kms, Banihal-Qazigund 18 kms and Udhampur-Katra 25 kms.
“The electrification work of the Banihal-Budgam section is complete and work up to Baramulla is targeted to be completed by October 2022,” they said.
As per the project, there are 927 nos. of Bridges (combined length of 13 Km). These bridges include the iconic Chenab Bridge (Overall length 1315 m, Arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed) which will be the highest railway bridge in the world. Indian railway’s first cable stayed bridge is also being constructed on Anji Khad.
As per officials, work on the 111 kilometres of Katra-Banihal section is underway despite challenging and inhospitable terrain.
“Four railway stations including Reasi, Salal-A, Dugga and Basindadhar will be established in the jurisdiction of Reasi District while remaining three namely Sangaldan, Sumber and Arpinchala will be set up in Ramban district,” an official said, adding, “Some of these stations are partly located in tunnels or on bridges or both.”
“The line and level of the escape tunnel is precisely achieved in break-through. T-48 is an escape tunnel of length 9.694 kilometres long and 5.30 meters, dia, modified horseshoe shape,” Deepak Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Railways said.
He further said that the tunnel is a link between Sumber station and Sangaldan station. This tunnel breakthrough will be a key milestone for the entire USBRL Project. Almost 90 percent work has been completed on the site in different sections.
“The section has 38 tunnels, including Tunnel T-49 with a length of 12.77 Km, with a combined length of 119 kilometers of which 160.52 kilometres of tunnelling (95.47 Km main and 65.05 Km escape tunnel) have been completed totalling 80 percent completion of tunnelling work. The lining work of the tunnel is going on at a fast pace,” the officer said.
The other works like construction of portals, ventilation of tunnels and signal and telecom works are also on-going simultaneously.
“Chenab Bridge stands 359 meters above the river bed and main arch work of the bridge was completed in April 2021, the officers said.
“1238 meter of the 1315 meter deck has already been accomplished totalling more than 94 percent deck laying work has been completed,” he said,
Another important structure at the Anji Bridge will be India’s first cable-stayed Railway Bridge.
“The railway is conducting ballast less construction to decrease carbon footprint in Himalayas,” he added.
The Chief Secretary was informed that it is expected that Kashmir valley would be connected to Jammu and rest of the country during 2023, providing efficient connectivity to Kashmir valley with other parts of the country by rail.
(With KNO Inputs)
