Saturday, July 12, 2025

PM arriving in Jammu, train set to reach Kashmir

pm modi

Srinagar, June 2: For the first time after Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu on June 6.

The Prime Minister will flag off the train from Katra to Baramulla and virtually from Baramulla to Katra. He is also likely to address a rally at Katra Stadium.

This will be Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. This is also his first visit post ‘Operation Sindoor’ – India’s precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan launched on May 7.

 “The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will visit Jammu in the first week of June and will inaugurate the first Vande Bharat train to Kashmir,” senior BJP leader Ravinder Raina, former J&K BJP President and BJP National Executive Member, told the media.

PM Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail Project (USBRL), the World’s tallest Chenab Rail Bridge and Anji Khad Rail Bridge on 19 April, besides flagging off the special Kashmir edition of Vande Bharat Express from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station to Srinagar.

PM Modi is likely to visit the highest rail bridge in the world over the river Chenab and the first cable-stayed bridge on the railway track in Reasi district before flagging off train services from Katra.

Initially, the train will run from Katra to Baramulla. However, after the completion of expansion work at Jammu Railway Station, including an increase in the number of platforms, the train to the Valley will start operations from Jammu, most likely in August-September.

During Operation Sindoor, a train carrying security personnel also operated on the track up to Srinagar.


A fresh security audit of the track was conducted after the Pahalgam terror attack, and all issues have been addressed with the deployment of more police personnel and strengthening of infrastructure.

Out of the total 272-kilometer Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 kilometers was commissioned in phases, with the first phase of the 118-kilometre Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by the 18-kilometre Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, the 25-kilometre Udhampur-Katra in July 2014, and the 48.1-kilometre-long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February last year.

The work on the 46.46-kilometre Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 kilometres of stretch between Reasi and Katra, which was also completed nearly three months back, leading to the start of different trials of trains, including that of Vande Bharat. The project involved a cost of Rs 41,000 crore.

On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The Railways have conducted a series of trials over the past few months on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.

Chenab Bridge is 467 metres high, making it 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Designed to withstand earthquakes up to magnitude 8, the bridge posed significant engineering challenges due to its location in a high-seismic zone.

PM Modi’s scheduled visit to the Union Territory comes shortly after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day tour last week. During the visit, Shah reviewed security arrangements and also visited Poonch, where he met victims of cross-border shelling.