PM Modi Inaugurates Chenab Bridge, Flags Off Vande Bharat Express

Today Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an important moment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the unique Chenab Bridge built on the Chenab River to the nation. Along with this, he flagged off the Vande Bharat train from Katra to Srinagar. Through this project, the rail route of Kashmir got connected to Kanyakumari, which will reduce the distance between Delhi and Kashmir. Chenab Bridge is the world's highest rail arch bridge, located in seismic zone five. This bridge is built between two mountains, where wind tunnel phenomenon is experienced due to strong winds. Keeping this challenge in mind, the bridge has been specially designed to withstand wind speeds of 260 kilometers per hour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat Express on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) from Katra to Srinagar today. On this occasion, he will also inaugurate the world's highest railway bridge, Chenab Bridge and Anji Bridge. Along with this, the foundation stone of many development projects will also be laid.

Even after 77 years of independence, Kashmir is cut off from other parts of the country during the snowfall season, especially due to the closure of National Highway-44. In this situation, it used to take 8 to 10 hours to reach Kashmir from Jammu. But now with the start of train service, this journey will be completed in just three hours.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board, said that the Railways has decided to run two Vande Bharat Express trains on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link. These trains will run daily between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra to Srinagar. The first train will leave at 8:10 am and the second at 14:55 (2:55 pm). The train leaving at 8:10 am will reach Srinagar at 11:10 am in about three hours via Banihal, while the second train will reach Srinagar at 6 pm. In contrast, the 26404 train will leave Srinagar at 8 am every day and reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra station. The second train will leave Srinagar at 2 pm and reach Katra at 5:05 pm every day. These trains will have eight coaches, in which executive class and chair car facilities will be available.

The USBRL project was started in 1997 to connect the Kashmir Valley with other parts of the country through railways throughout the year, which took more than 28 years to complete. Chenab Bridge is an important part of this Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, which costs Rs 43 thousand 780 crore. This 272 km long railway line includes 36 tunnels, whose total length is 119 km. Of this, the 12.77 km long T-49 tunnel is considered to be the longest transport tunnel in the country. Apart from this, there are 943 bridges on this track, whose total length is 13 km.

The plan to connect Kashmir with the rail network started in 1997. However, due to geological and weather related difficulties, the deadline of this project was extended several times, which also increased its cost. Ultimately this project was completed in an amount of more than Rs 41,000 crore.

Work on 209 km of the total 272 km long USBRL project has been successfully completed in various phases. The first phase of the 118 km long Qazigund-Baramulla section was completed in October 2009. Subsequently, the 18-km-long Banihal-Qazigund section was completed in June 2013, the 25-km-long Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014, and the 48.1-km-long Banihal-Sangaldan section in February last year.