Jammu, Jan 22: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said that the Katra-Sangaldan train service is likely to be delayed by a few months and will begin operations in April with the onset of the tourism season.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party function here, Abdullah said he was preparing to travel to Srinagar onboard the train on January 25.
“I heard that the train (to Kashmir) will face a two-month delay due to some incomplete works. Those works are being attended to and they will start the train in April with the onset of the tourism season,” the former chief minister said.
In December last year, the Railway Ministry announced the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, the work that was started in 1997 to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The railway authorities conducted several trial runs on various sections including the Katra-Srinagar track besides the statutory inspection by Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, Dinesh Chand Deshwal in the past one month, brightening the chances of early operationalization of the service.
With the commencement of the final safety inspection, 111 Km long Banihal-Katra Section in the newly constructed, Jammu division, rail commuters can expect a world-class travel experience on this route from later this year as Jammu station is being redeveloped to equip it with 8 platforms and modern amenities. However, an 8-coach Jammu Srinagar Vande BharatExpresss between Katra to Srinagar will start running soon. With this transformation, the long wait for train connectivity between Kashmir Valley & Jammu will be over. The completion of the Banihal-Katra section has been an engineering marvel in which 97 km of length is a tunnel and 7 km of distance is covered by 4 main bridges.
The toughest challenge in the project was to give foundation support to the World’s highest arch bridge (i.e 359 m) on the Chenab River. It was achieved by the rock bolting method using 30,000 tonnes of steel. The other main challenge was to build India’s first cable-stayed bridge on the Anji River. The two other bridges in the section are the Reasi Bridge and Bakkal Bridges.
While executing the project, railway engineers innovated the technique of Himalayan tunneling over conventional tunneling methods to overcome safety concerns and give strength to the main as well as 67 km of escape tunnels. The tunnels have completely ballast-less tracks as is used on the metro tracks with no joints. The longest tunnel in this section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link (USBRL) project i.e. T50 is 12.77 KM in length. Cameras are placed at every 50 M in the tunnels to keep an eye on safety and operational data. These Cameras are connected to a state-of-the-art central control room. Railways have also built 215 km of roads in the region to access the project sites, which is benefiting local people.
Jammu-Srinagar Vande Bharat train is specially designed with anti-freezing features. The Snow removal train, moving ahead of passenger and freight trains will make sure that trains on this strategic route run all through the year, day and night. This will ensure all-weather connectivity between both regions. To give passengers a comfortable & safe travel experience, Railways has used Anti-Vibration seismic devices in the project as this region falls in zone-V earthquake vulnerability. These dampers will absorb the tremors in the Himalayan terrain and thus maintain faster and safer travel for the commuters.
The Vande Bharat Express running in Kashmir is different from the Vande Bharat Express running across the country. It is specially designed to operate smoothly in extremely cold conditions, i.e. as low as -20°C. To ensure comfort for passengers and drivers, the train is equipped with advanced heating systems. The driver’s cabin features a heated windshield to prevent it from fogging up or freezing, ensuring clear visibility in extreme temperatures. Further, the train has heating elements in the plumbing and bio-toilets to prevent water from freezing, ensuring that essential systems continue to function during cold weather.