Srinagar- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely flag off the first electric train in Kashmir on Tuesday and will also inaugurate the 48-km recently completed rail link from Banihal to Sangaldan – a 48.1-kilometre-long significant segment of the country’s most ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project. This will be PM’s first public engagement in the region after nullification of Article 370 in 2019.
The Indian Railways is all set to start train services on the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section, on February 20.
Officials said the railways will script a new history of trains running on clean fuel in the Valley and also host the biggest ever programme in its history next week for inauguration and foundation stone laying of nearly 2,000 projects in one go. These include revamp of over 500 stations and construction of rail over bridges and under bridges. These two will be major programmes before the poll code is announced.
“We will get a step closure to realise our dream to connect Srinagar with Kanyakumari,” a source in the railways told PTI.
“The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project is one of the most ambitious Himalayan railway projects post Independence,” he added.
Talking about the project, a senior railways official said, “Spanning the challenging terrain of the Pir Panjal ranges, the USBRL aims at establishing an all-weather, comfortable and economically-feasible transportation network, connecting remote Himalayan areas with the rest of the country.”
The USBRL project seeks to integrate the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region and the national rail network, spanning a total length of 272 kilometres out of which 161 kilometres have already been commissioned.
According to the railways, the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 15,863 crore, is ready for operation and the existing train services from Baramulla to Banihal will now be extended up to Sangaldan, a town near the district headquarters of Ramban.
“It features 16 bridges — 11 major ones, four minor ones and one road overbridge. More than 90 per cent of this section is in tunnels, with a total of 11 tunnels covering 43.37 kilometres, including the country’s longest transportation tunnel, T-50, stretching 12.77 kilometres in the Khari-Sumber section,” a senior official associated with the project said.
“For safety and rescue, there are three escape tunnels with a combined length of 30.1 kilometres. Additionally, the section includes 30 curves spanning 23.72 kilometres. To further enhance passenger safety and comfort, several advanced features have been incorporated, such as ballastless tracks and canted turnouts (a first for the Indian Railways),” he added.
Besides, CCTV monitoring and state-of-the-art tunnel-safety technology, including ventilation and firefighting systems, are some of the other added safety features.
So far as electrification is concerned, the Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan section of the USBRL project, which spans 185.66 RKM (route kilometres) and serves 19 railway stations, is complete, the sources said.
“Constructed for Rs 470.23 crore, with electrification, it is possible to operate the state-of-the-art Vande Bharat trains in the section. Other noteworthy features include 25-KV OHE inside the longest operational tunnel (tunnel T-80 in the Banihal-Qazigund section), specialised equipment for high-altitude operations and 132/33-KV traction substations at altitudes exceeding 1,600 MSL,” one of the sources said. (with inputs from PTI)
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