Due to security concerns, the trains would have to halt at Katra railway station and the passengers would have to deboard from the trains and board another train from there to continue their forward journey.Also due to security concerns, the trains would ply only during the day time on the Kashmir route.In the authorisation letter, CRS Dinesh Chand Deshwal has given go-ahead for the opening of the newly constructed broad-gauge line between Katra and Reasi stations for the public carriage of goods and passenger traffic.During the visit by CRS last week, the speed trial was successfully conducted in both up and down directions from Katra to Banihal and vice-versa using an inspection specially fitted with OMS equipment and hauled by an electric locomotive. The work on the prestigious 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project was started in 2005-06.Phase I of the USBRL project covering the 118-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla section was inaugurated in October 2009 while 18 km long Banihal-Qazigund section was inaugurated in June 2013, 25-km-long Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014. In February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the 48 km long rail line between Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan.The USBRL project involves 38 Tunnels (combined length of 119 km). The longest tunnel (T-49) has a length of 12.76 km and is the country’s longest transportation tunnel. There are 26 major bridges (a combined length of 21 km) and 11 minor bridges of a combined length of 11 kms.Among these bridges is the iconic Chenab Railway bridge (length 1315 meters) 359 meters tall, which is around 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. It is the World’s highest arch railway bridge.Another attraction of the project is Anji Bridge with a length of 725 meters, which is India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge.
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