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“The ballastless track work for the 3.2 km-long Tunnel T-33, located at the foothills of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and connecting Katra to Reasi, was successfully completed today at 02:00 hrs,” Vaishnaw wrote on X
Ashwini Vaishnaw called it a “historic milestone” on X.
The work on the tracks for the Udhampur Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL) was completed on Friday, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced.
In a post on social media platform X, Vaishnaw called it a “historic milestone”. “Final track work on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link is complete. The ballastless track work for the 3.2 km-long Tunnel T-33, located at the foothills of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and connecting Katra to Reasi, was successfully completed today at 02:00 hrs,” he said.
Last month, the ministry hinted that the Vande Bharat train connecting Kashmir to New Delhi on the new line is likely to be inaugurated in January 2025.
In February 2024, the ministry opened the 48.1-km Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section, including India’s longest tunnel falling between the Khari-Sumber section.
With this, trains could run from Baramulla to Sangaldan via Banihal, which used to be the last or originating station earlier.
Historic milestone; Final track work on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link is complete.The ballast-less track work for the 3.2 km-long Tunnel T-33, located at the foothills of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine and connecting Katra to Reasi, was successfully completed today… pic.twitter.com/VUZTTi61A7
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) December 13, 2024
USBRL OFFERING TRAIN SERVICES FROM SRINAGAR
Of the 272-km project, work on 200 km has already been commissioned. The work on the remaining part was underway.
As per the ministry, the USBRL project is, perhaps, the most difficult new railway line project undertaken in the country post-independence. “The terrain passes through the young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. This section predominantly involves tunnelling – 97.42 km out of 111 Km (87%) of length of Katra-Banihal section is in tunnels and maximum length of tunnel T-49 is 12.77 km, which will be longest transportation railway tunnel in the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
The railway has also made the world’s highest railway bridge over the Chenab river in Reasi District of Jammu and Kashmir.
The iconic Chenab Bridge is 1,315-m-long, having an arch span of 467 m and a height of 359 m above the river bed. Indian Railways’ first cable-stayed bridge has been constructed over Anji Khad. “Its bridge deck is 331m above the river bed level and height of its Main pylon is 193m,” it added.
The ministry also said the USBRL project has made substantial socio-economic contributions to the region, with employment generation being a significant aspect of its impact. “Another crucial facet of the USBRL project’s socio-economic development efforts has been the construction of over 215 km of approach roads, which include construction of a tunnel and 320 small bridges,” the Ministry added.
The railways also assured that adequate safety provisions have been kept in the USBRL project, in accordance with international norms. “All tunnels having length more than 2 km have been provided with mechanical ventilation systems to ensure air quality as per international norms. Firefighting system consisting of fire hydrants and fire extinguishers, to promptly address and contain potential fire incidents has been provided in all the tunnels. Proper access roads have been constructed to all escape tunnels,” the ministry added.
