INDIA’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, flagged off two specially designed Vande Bharat EMUs at ceremony held to mark the completion of the 272km Udhampur - Srinagar - Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) on June 6. The new line connects the Indian Railways (IR) network with the Kashmir Valley in the north and is poised to transform regional mobility and drive socio-economic integration in the region.
Holding aloft a large Indian flag, Modi walked across the 359m-high Chenab bridge during the inauguration ceremony. The bridge is described as the world’s highest single-arch railway bridge and is one of the many major civil engineering components of the project. Modi was joined for the inauguration by Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, chief minister, Omar Abdullah, and India’s railways minister, Ashwani Vaishnaw.
The project was approved as long ago as 1995 at an initial cost of Rs 25bn ($US 303m), with the final cost now totalling Rs 437bn. The line passes through 36 tunnels and crosses 943 bridges. It reduces the journey time between Katra and Srinagar to around 3 hours, around half the time of the equivalent journey by bus.
Along with the Chenab bridge, which took around 20 years to build, the project included construction of India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Khad bridge, and a 12.77 km tunnel in the Ramban district, the country’s longest rail tunnel.
The project is a core part of the Indian government's broader infrastructure development strategy. Construction of the line posed serious engineering and logistical challenges, particularly the bridges and tunnels in the seismically active areas of the Shivalik Hills and Pir Pranjal range in the Himalayas. Terror groups also targeted construction sites on several occasions.
The project to electrify the 82km Katra - Dharam section of USBRL, which includes the Chenab bridge, was selected as one of the winners of IRJ’s Top Projects Award 2025. Subscribers can read about the project here.
