The Indian Railways on Wednesday successfully conducted a second trial run on the world's highest railway bridge, Chenab Bridge in Reasi. Just a month back, multiple security agencies conducted a mock drill at the Chenab Railway Bridge.
Spanning over 1.3 kilometres, the bridge is a vital link in the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, which forms part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla section of the Kashmir Railway project, officials said.
The Chenab bridge, an engineering marvel, is an arched steel and concrete structure connecting Baramulla to Jammu via the Udhampur-Katra-Qazigund route, with a travel time of approximately six-and-a-half hours, railway officials said. Standing 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the bridge is designed to withstand a blast of up to 40 kg of TNT and an earthquake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale. It can also endure winds of up to 260 km/h and has an estimated lifespan of 120 years.
Construction of the bridge began in 2002 but was halted in 2008-09 to address safety concerns for rail passengers due to high-velocity winds in the area. The project was completed in 2024.
The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, which includes the 48. 1-km-long Banihal-Sangaldan section, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20, 2024. Phase I of the project, covering the 118-km Qazigund-Baramulla section, was inaugurated in October 2009 under the Congress-led UPA government. Subsequent phases included the inauguration of the 18-km Banihal-Qazigund section in June 2013 and the 25-km Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014.
