*First Freight train reaches Anantnag, marking historic start of USBRL’s Banihal-Katra section*
Srinagar, August 9: In a historic milestone for Kashmir’s transportation network, railway” Northern Railways will witness the arrival of the first loaded freight train at Anantnag Railway Station.
This landmark event marks the operational debut of the newly commissioned Banihal-Sangaldan-Reasi-Katra section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
With this development, the Kashmir rail network is now seamlessly integrated with the Indian Railways freight corridor, enabling the direct movement of goods from across the country into the Valley.
This development is set to boost economic activity by creating new trade opportunities, reducing transportation costs for businesses and essential commodities, ensuring year-round supply delivery despite weather challenges, and strengthening regional connectivity within the national rail framework.
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of total length 272 Km has been recently commissioned. USBRL project covers the districts of Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla of Jammu and Kashmir.
The USBRL project is one of the most difficult new railway line projects undertaken in the country post-independence. The terrain passes through young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. In this project, Railway has made the world’s highest Railway Bridge over Chenab river in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir. The iconic Chenab Bridge is 1315 m long having an arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed. Indian Railway’s first cable-stayed bridge has been constructed over Anji Khad in this project. Its bridge deck is 331m above the river bed level and height of its Main pylon is 193m.
The USBRL project has made substantial socio-economic contributions to the region, with employment generation being a significant aspect of its impact. The project has generated more than 5 Cr. man-days of employment. 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. This road network has helped the local population in improvement of their connectivity with other areas and also improvement in socio-economic states.
In accordance with international norms, adequate safety provisions have been kept in the USBRL project. All tunnels having length more than 2 Km have been provided with mechanical ventilation systems to ensure air quality. Firefighting systems comprising fire hydrants and fire extinguishers have been provided to promptly address and contain potential fire incidents in all the tunnels. Further, to ensure the safety of passengers, escape tunnels have also been made where the length of the tunnel is more than 3 Km. A total of 66 Km escape tunnels have been made in this project.–(ANI)“`
