Vinod Bhat
A statutory safety inspection of the newly constructed electrified railway line from Katra to Reasi (route length of 17 km) on the Katra-Banihal section of the USBRL project was conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety for the Northern Circle, Shri Dinesh Chand Deshwal, on January 7, 2025. This final remaining section of the USBRL Project is located in the Reasi District of Jammu and Kashmir. Its commissioning will ensure the connectivity of the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India through the railway network.
Following the completion of the CRS inspection of the Katra-Reasi (17 km) section, speed trials were conducted for the entire Katra-Banihal (111 km) section of the project. The other two portions of the Katra-Banihal section have already been completed with the following milestones:
- Banihal to Sangaldan (48 km) was dedicated to the nation by the Honorable Prime Minister on February 20, 2024.
- Sangaldan to Reasi (46 km) received CRS authorization on July 1, 2024, and is ready for dedication to the nation.
These speed trials were successfully conducted in both directions between Katra and Banihal, reaching a maximum speed of 110 km/h on January 8, 2025.
The 111 km Katra-Banihal section is the most challenging part of the 272 km USBRL Project and is perhaps the most difficult new railway line project undertaken in the country since independence. The terrain passes through the young Himalayas, which present numerous geological surprises and challenges. This section predominantly involves tunneling; 97.42 km of the 111 km (approximately 87%) of the Katra-Banihal section is in tunnels, with the maximum length of tunnel T-49 measuring 12.77 km, making it the longest transportation railway tunnel in the country.
The section includes 25 tunnels with a total length of 97.42 km (87.8%), 49 bridges with a total length of 7.04 km (6.34%), and only 6.54 km (5.9%) in open formation. Additionally, to comply with international safety norms, eight parallel escape tunnels, each measuring 66.4 km in length, have been provided, with cross passages connecting the main and escape tunnels every 375 meters in tunnels longer than 3 km for safety and rescue purposes.
This segment of the project showcases impressive engineering structures, including the iconic Chenab Bridge (overall length of 1,315 m, arch span of 467 m, and height of 359 m above the riverbed), which is the highest railway arch bridge in the world, and the cable-stayed bridge at Anji Khad, India’s first cable-stayed bridge, featuring a length of 473 m and a main pylon height of 193 m.
There are seven stations on this section: Khari, Sumber, and Sangaldan in Ramban District, and Sawalkote, Dugga, Bakkal, and Reasi in Reasi District, Jammu and Kashmir. All these station yards are constructed partly inside tunnels and on bridges due to space constraints.
The entire section is electrified, featuring a railway electrification system with a rigid overhead conductor system (ROCS) at 25 kV in tunnels, introduced for the first time on Indian Railways.
To further enhance passenger safety and comfort, several advanced features have been provided, including ballastless track (including yards), canted turnouts (a first for Indian Railways), standard II(R) interlocking MACLS and LED signals, centralized electronic interlocking, block working with UFSBI (Universal Fail Safe Block Instrument) and HASSDAC (High Availability Single Section Digital Axle Counter), CCTV monitoring, and state-of-the-art tunnel safety technology, including ventilation, firefighting systems, and SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition).
With the completion of this section, for the first time in India’s history, the Kashmir Valley will be connected to the mainland railways, cutting through the mighty Himalayas—a mission that has been dreamed of many times and is soon to become a reality. The completion of the USBRL Project will be a significant chapter in our Honorable Prime Minister’s vision of a new India—Viksit Bharat.
