Jammu: The Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal on Tuesday started a two-day statutory inspection of the recently completed railway line along the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, officials said.
Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the completion of the Reasi-Katra section last month, an important development which will connect Kashmir with the rest of the country after nearly three decades of stupendous work.
Deshwal’s visit comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Jammu Railway Division from New Delhi, paving the way for efficient management of train services in the northernmost region of India.
The railway officials said the CRS conducted a statutory inspection of Katra-Reasi section and also visited the Anji Khad bridge, India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, in Reasi district soon after reaching Katra this morning.
Deshwal will be visiting the iconic arch bridge over Chenab at Kauri — the world’s highest railway bridge — before to and fro speed trial of Katra-Banihal by CRS Special on Wednesday afternoon, the officials said.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of Anji Khad Bridge and Chenab bridge.
The officials said the CRS will submit a report after the conclusion of its two-day inspection, which will guide further action on starting train services to Kashmir.
Out of the total 272 km USBRL project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009 followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17-km stretch between Reasi and Katra and this section was finally completed in December 2024.
The officials said the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and has missed several deadlines given geological, topographical, and meteorological challenges.
