The USBRL (Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link), an undertaking by the Indian Railways to build a broad-gauge railway line through the Himalayas is now 90 per cent complete, the national carrier informed through its Twitter handle. The intention of the project is to connect the Kashmir region with the rest of the country.
“Linking Kashmir to Kanyakumari: Almost There!” said in an official tweet from the Ministry of Railways. Updating about the progress of the work, the tweet mentioned that out of the total 163.88 km tunneling under the Katra-Banihal section, 162.6 km has been completed, while out of the total 117.7 km, 31.3 km of track laying has been completed. The work is completed.
In addition, construction of 21 major bridges out of total 26 and 11 minor bridges have been completed.
The project was declared a project of national importance in March 2002. It is also the biggest mountain railway project after independence. From Jammu to Baramulla, it passes through the young Himalayas, tectonic thrusts and faults.
The General Manager of Northern had made a statement in May last year that Kashmir would be connected to the rest of the country through a railway link by the end of 2023.
USBRL is an all-weather, cost-effective railway line. The first three phases of the project have been completed. Work is underway on the topographically challenging 111 km section between Katra and Banihal.
The rail line has been laid in three sections of 25 km from Udhampur to Katra, 18 km from Banihal to Qazigund and 118 km from Qazigund to Baramulla. Trains are running between Baramulla-Banihal in Kashmir Valley and Jammu-Udhampur-Katra in Jammu region.
Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh recently shared the latest pictures of the Anji Khad bridge under construction under the USBRL project. The work of the rail bridge is set to be completed by this year.