Rail project connecting Kashmir to rest of India 90% done

19 Jan 2023 CW Team

Indian Railways announced via its Twitter account that the USBRL (Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link), a project to build a broad-gauge railway route over the Himalayas, is now 90% complete. The goal of the initiative is to link Kashmir to the rest of the nation.

An official tweet from the Ministry of Railways read, "Connecting Kashmir to Kanniyakumari: Almost There!" The tweet provided an update on the status of the project, noting that 31.3 km of the 117.7 km of track laying and 162.6 km of the 163.88 km of tunnel mining under the Katra-Banihal Section are both complete.

Additionally, 11 minor bridges and 21 of the total 26 main bridges were completed.

In March 2002, the project received the designation of National Importance Project. The largest mountain railway undertaking since independence, as well. It travels between geological faults and the young Himalayas on its way from Jammu to Baramulla.

By the end of 2023, according to a declaration made by Northern's General Manager last May, Kashmir will have a railway link connecting it to the rest of the nation.

The cost-effective, all-weather USBRL is a railroad line. The project's first three phases are finished. Work is still being done on the 111 km segment between Katra and Banihal, which has difficult topography.

Three segments of the train line—25 km from Udhampur to Katra, 18 km from Banihal to Qazigund, and 118 km from Qazigund to Baramulla—have been constructed. Train service is available between Jammu-Udhampur-Katra and Baramulla-Banihal in the Kashmir Valley.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State, recently posted the most recent images of the USBRL project's Anji Khad bridge, which is still under construction. The train bridge's construction is expected to be finished at the very least this year.

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