USBRL Provides All-Weather Connectivity to Kashmir, Opening New Market Opportunities for Farmers and Small & Medium Enterprises: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Vinod Bhat

New Delhi: To provide connectivity of Kashmir valley to rest of India, Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project (272 Km) has been commissioned. USBRL project covers the districts of Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla of Jammu and Kashmir.

The USBRL project is one of the most difficult new railway line projects undertaken in the country post-independence. The terrain passes through young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. In this project, Railway has made the world’s highest Railway Bridge over Chenab river in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir. The iconic Chenab Bridge is 1315 m long having Arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed. Indian Railway’s first cable stayed bridge has been constructed across Anji Khad in this project. It is 473 m long asymmetrical cable stayed bridge with single Pylon of 193m height with inverted “Y” Shape.

Apart from providing rail connectivity, about 215 km (including a tunnel and 320 bridges) of roads have been constructed which are used by local population.

The entire rail project is electrified using a overhead conductor system in tunnels and in open stretches. With the all-weather, reliable and comfortable rail connectivity of valley portion with rest of the Indian Railway network, tourism will get a big boost.

After commissioning of the project, the travel time between Katra and Srinagar has been reduced to just about 3 hours.

The USBRL project has made substantial socio-economic contributions to the region. The integration of USBRL project with Railway Network has facilitated transportation of raw materials and finished goods, supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. Farmers and local businesses are now able to sell their signature Kashmir products such as apples, dry fruits, pashmina shawls and handicrafts beyond the region, providing access to larger markets and promoting economic diversity.

To improve rail connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, following Final Location Surveys (FLS) have been sanctioned:

After preparation of DPR, project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As consultation with stake-holders is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

Amrit Bharat Stations:

Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations of Indian Railways. The master planning, keeping in view the necessity of each station, includes:

• Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
• Integration of station with both sides of city
• Improvement of station building
• Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths
• Provision of wider foot over bridge/subway to commensurate with passenger traffic
• Provision of lifts/escalators/ramps
• Improvement of platform surface and provision of platform shelter
• Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’
• Parking development
• Amenities for Divyangjans
• Better passenger information systems
• Provision of air concourse, executive lounges, Multimodal integration, landscaping, etc.

The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

So far, 1,340 stations have been identified for development under this scheme, out of which 4 stations, are located in Jammu and Kashmir. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Jammu and Kashmir are as following:

The activities for development at stations of Jammu and Kashmir have been taken up at good pace and progress of the stations is as given below:

• Budgam station: The works of improvement of circulating area, parking and approach road have been completed. The works of 12 m wide foot over bridge, improvement of station building and new waiting & executive lounge with booking counters have been taken up.
• Jammu Tawi station: The works of new station building at second entry, development of circulating area, parking, new platforms, platform shelter, electrical sub-station and entrance ramp have been completed. The works of dismantling of old station building at main entry, foot over bridges and air concourse have been taken up.
• Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan station: The works of improvement of station building, improvement of circulating area, improvement of parking, approach road, toilets, improvement of waiting rooms, entrance porch and signage have been completed. The works of platform shelter, improvement of platform surface and 6 m wide foot over bridge have been taken up.
• Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station is under master planning stage.

Master Planning is an iterative process requiring optimization and the time frame and other details for such optimization cannot be indicated at this stage.

Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways, including provision of passenger amenities is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc.

Development / upgradation / modernisation of stations including under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not station-wise or state-wise. Jammu and Kashmir is covered under the jurisdiction of one railway zone, namely Northern Railway. For this zone, an allocation of ₹ 7,944 crore has been made for the last five financial years and current financial year, out of which an expenditure (up to June, 2026) of ₹ 5,622 crore has been incurred so far.

Development / Upgradation of railway stations is a complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as tree cutting, heritage, fire clearance, airport clearance etc. These stations are in operation since long, so brownfield work challenges are being faced, such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipelines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of the tracks and near to high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the progress of work and completion time.

Indian Railways has a well established mechanism to monitor implementation of projects including their reviews, inspection and check for quality of works. Works are carried out adhering to the standards and specifications as laid down in various codes and manuals. Inspections and checks are carried out from time to time by various agencies and officials as per laid down instructions and actions for correction including damages are taken immediately. This is a continuous and ongoing process.

ROBs/RUBs:

Sanctioning of works of Road over Bridge (ROB)/Road under Bridge (RUB) in lieu of Level crossings (LCs) is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railway. Such works are prioritised and taken up on the basis of their impact on safety in train operations, mobility of trains & impact for road users and feasibility etc.

No. of ROBs/ RUBs constructed on Indian Railways during the period 2004-14 viz- a-viz  2014-26 (Upto May’26) is as under:

As on 01.06.2026, 4,993 Nos. ROB / RUB works are sanctioned at a cost of approx. ₹ 1,17,492 Cr on Indian Railways which are at various stages of planning and execution.

As on date, 195 Nos. of Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs) exist in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Further, 02 Nos. of ROB works have been sanctioned at a cost of approx. ₹87 Cr in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir which are at various stages of planning and execution.

Completion & commissioning of ROB/RUB works depends on various factors like cooperation of  State Governments in giving  consent for closure of LC,  fixing of approach alignment, approval of General Arrangement Drawing (GAD), land acquisition, removal of encroachment, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities,  law and order situation in the area of project / work sites,  duration of working season in a year for the particular project / area  due to climatic conditions etc.  All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works.

Further, Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of work:

i.  Joint survey with concerned State Govt./Road Owning Authority is done before finalizing the General Arrangement Drawing  (GAD) to ensure smooth execution.

ii.      Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works.

iii.    Standardization of superstructure and substructure drawings for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on the Railway portion has been done to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in the form of a compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning.

The details of allocation/Revised Estimate (RE) and expenditure for ROB/RUB works Under Plan Head (PH)-30 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise/District-wise. Jammu & Kashmir is covered under the jurisdiction of Northern Railway. This zone has been allocated a total of ₹ 763 Cr under PH-30 for financial year i.e. 2026-27. The expenditure incurred under PH-30 by this zone during year 2026-27 (up to May’ 2026) is ₹ 229 Cr.

Electrification:

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode.  So far, about 99.6% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-26 and before 2014 is as under:

In Jammu & Kashmir, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line/multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification.

Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT) :

“In order to encourage setting up of cargo terminals through private investment, ‘Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has been launched. Location of the GCTs is decided on the basis of demand from industry, potential of Cargo traffic, availability of railway infrastructure and overall logistics potential of the area.

So far, 142 Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs) have been commissioned, including 01 GCT in Samba district of Jammu & Kashmir. The 142 commissioned GCTs have an estimated freight handling capacity of 224 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). The policy has mobilized private investment of approximately ₹10,000 crore through these GCTs. Freight handled at these GCTs during 2025-26 is 146 MT.

In addition, In-Principle Approvals (IPAs) have been granted for the development of GCTs at 310 more locations, including 3 locations of Jammu & Kashmir i.e. in Kathua, Anantnag and Jammu districts.

Strengthening of Signalling System :

Indian Railway is continuously modernizing current infrastructure of its signalling system as under:

1.  Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals in place of old mechanical signalling have been provided at 6671 stations as on 30.06.2026, out of which Electronic Interlocking have been provided at 3954 stations over Indian Railway, including 11 stations with Electronic Interlocking in five districts (Samba-1, Reasi-4, Ramban-3, Kathua-1 & Jammu-2) of Jammu & Kashmir during last 5 years.

2.     Complete Track Circuiting of stations to enhance safety by verification of track occupancy by electrical means has been provided at 6671 stations up to 30.06.2026 over Indian Railway, including 11 stations in five districts (Samba-1, Reasi-4, Ramban-3, Kathua-1 & Jammu-2) of Jammu & Kashmir during last 5 years.

3.    Axle counters for automatic clearance of Block Section, BPAC (Block Proving Axle Counter) are provided to ensure complete arrival of train without manual intervention before granting line clear to receive next train and to reduce human element. These systems have been provided on 6085 Block Sections up to 30.06.2026 over Indian Railway, including 11 stations in five districts (Samba-1, Reasi-4, Ramban-3, Kathua-1 & Jammu-2) of Jammu & Kashmir during last 5 years.

4.  Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Kavach is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of highest order (SIL-4). Kavach aids the Loco Pilot in running of trains within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so.Kavach was adopted as National ATP system in July, 2020. Based on deployment of Kavach version 3.2 on 1465 RKm on South Central Railway and experience gained, further improvements were made. Finally, Kavach specification version 4.0 was approved by RDSO on 16.07.2024.

After extensive and elaborate trials, Kavach Version 4.0 has been successfully commissioned on 2633 Route Kilometres as on 31.07.2026, covering the high density Delhi- Mumbai and Delhi- Howrah routes over Indian Railway. Kavach works have been sanctioned for about 401 Rkm on following sections passing through Jammu & Kashmir:

·         Kathua–Jammu Tawi (76 RKm),

·         Jammu Tawi–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (78 RKm),

·         Katra – Banihal (112Rkm),

·         Banihal–Baramulla (135 RKm).

Train Services:

As the railway network straddles across  boundaries of States/Union Territories, trains are introduced across such boundaries as per network requirement. However, Indian Railways (IR) constantly endeavour to improve connectivity for the travelling passengers.

Indian Railways (IR) have introduced the following 04 pairs of Vande Bharat Express, which are catering to the needs of passengers of important stations like Jammu Tawi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and Badgam located within the jurisdiction of  Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir:

Further, it has been decided to introduce train service between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and Badgam viz. 14687/14688 Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Badgam Express.

Apart from these, IR has also undertaken to extend the following services to MCTM Udhampur:

Accordingly, Jammu Tawi station is presently served by 114 train services while MCTM Udhampur station is served by 58 train services.Similarly, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station is served by 46 train services, Srinagar is served by 16 train services and Budgam is served by 19 train services. The lists of trains serving these stations are as under:

Trains serving Jammu Tawi station

Trains serving MCTM Udhampur station:

Trains serving Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station:

Trains serving Badgam station:

Trains serving Srinagar station:

Besides, introduction of new train services, which is an  on-going process, depends on various factors which include-

●       Capacity of that section

●       Availability of path

●       Availability of required rolling stock

●       Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock

●  Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets.

Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section.

KD Desk