With the flagging off of the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday tweeted eight key features of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
Vaishnaw described the project as a “wonderful engineering achievement” while posting on X and noted the T-50 tunnel as “India’s longest transportation tunnel” – 12.77 km long and located between Khari and Sumber. The rail link also includes India’s second-longest transportation tunnel, T-80 (11.22 km), or Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel, between Banihal and Qazigund.
“India’s 3rd longest railway tunnel T-44 stretches over 11.13 Km; between Sawalkote-Sangaldan,” he added. Vaishnaw emphasized that the project will construct 36 main tunnels totaling 119.6 km plus eight escape tunnels totaling 66.4 km.
He also specified the details of the Chenab Bridge, the highest railway arch bridge in the world at 1.3 km long and 359 metres high – 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower.
The structure involved more than 600 kilometers of steel welding, which is more than the railway distance from Jammu to Delhi. Vaishnaw made the most of the moment by also showcasing the Anji Bridge, India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge.
725.5 metres long, the bridge is balanced on the axis of a single steel central pylon and the height of a single pylon is 193 m from the top. All 96 stay cables of the bridge were installed in 11 months, which had a total length of 653 km, more than the distance from Jammu to Delhi.
“Advanced construction technique was deliberately adapted for the complex geological and seismic conditions prevailing in the Himalayan region – Himalayan Tunneling Method,” his post read. Another important feature the minister shared was the ‘all weather train movement’ – he spoke to the installation of ‘ice cutter’ in Vande Bharat trains to remove the snow from tracks, thereby enabling all weather train movement.
Also Read: J&K: PM Modi Inaugurates Chenab Rail Bridge- The World’s Highest Railway Arch |WATCH
