Indian Railways has conducted a successful trial run of electric train between Budgam- Baramulla section in Jammu & Kashmir. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a video of the same on his Twitter handle.
With a view to provide an alternative and a reliable mass transportation system to Jammu & Kashmir, Govt. of India planned a 326 km (later extended to cover 345 km) long railway line joining the Kashmir Valley with the Indian Railways network.
The Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Quazigund-Baramulla rail line, a project of great importance for the local populace and the country as a whole, has been declared as “National Project". This project is, perhaps, the most difficult new railway line project undertaken on Indian subcontinent. The terrain passes through the Himalayas, which are young fold mountains full of geographical surprises, high tectonic activity and extremely cold weather conditions.
The completion of Jammu-Udhampur railway link in 2005 spelled the dawn of new era in rail connectivity. The rail line in the Kashmir Valley was constructed in a phased manner with the Railway steadily commissioning rail sections between Anantnag-Mazahom in October 2008, the Mazahom-Baramulla section in February 2009 and the rest 18 km long section between Quazigund-Anantnag in October 2009 thus completing the 119 kilometre Qazigund-Baramulla railway line of the Kashmir Valley. The Railway since then is working steadily to complete the remaining of the 345 km long railway line.
The USBRL Project is a culmination of a large number of Tunnels and Bridges, one of the most important and challenging being across the deep gorge of Chenab River near Salal Hydro Power Dam. This necessitated the construction of a long span bridge in the Seismeic Zone V. The total Length of the ‘Chenab Bridge’ is 1315 m having a design speed of 100 km and can withstand wind velocity upto 266 Kmph having a life span of 120 years. The Bridge is made up of steel arches and is aesthetically designed using local expertise and construction material. The height of the bridge is 359 m which is about 35 m taller than Eiffel Tower in Paris. When complete this will be the highest railway bridge in the world.
As part of the project to knit the zone of Jammu with the Kashmir valley which is separated through the majestic Pir Panjal mountain range, Indian Railway had earlier constructed the 11.21 Km long ‘Tunnel T-80’. This is the longest transportation tunnel in Asia. The existing stations that lie in the Banihal-Baramula section include Banihal, Shahabad Halt, Qazigund, Sadura, Anantnag, Bijbehara, Panjgam, Awantipora, Kakapora, Pampore, Srinagar, Budgam, Mazhom, Pattan, Hamre, Sopore and Baramulla. 15 pairs of DEMU services ply on the rail section providing all-weather connectivity in this region. Additional DEMUs were introduced in July 2015 and later Fast DEMUs for convenience of office-goers and students were put into service in May 2016 between Banihal-Baramula and Baramula-Budgam.
