2025-06-06T13:48:00+01:00 
A test train crossing the Chenab bridge in October 2024.
INDIA: The steep valleys and verdant mountains of Jammu & Kashmir were tied more tightly into the Indian transport network when Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally flagged off the first through train from Katra to Srinigar on June 6.
Speaking at the celebration at Katra station before the specially decorated Vande Bharat inter-city trainset began its journey, Modi said the ‘inauguration of mega infrastructure projects marks a turning point in Jammu & Kashmir’s development journey’.
He then travelled to the newly completed railway’s most striking structure, the Chenab river bridge, which is claimed to be the highest in the world. Modi then walked across the bridge carrying the national flag.The Kashmir link is seen by many in the country as India’s most important infrastructure project. Under development since 1994, the 272 km Udhampur – Srinagar railway was designed to provide all-weather connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.
Click on the image to see a map of the Kashmir rail link.
Since the 1990s, the scheme has been much modified amid construction and route selection challenges, while the Indian government has approved extensions beyond Srinagar to serve Baramulla and in future to Kupwara. The initial estimated budget of Rs25bn approved in 1995 has since grown to exceed Rs400bn.
The 118 km section through the Kashmir Valley from Qazigund to Baramulla via Srinagar was relatively straightforward to build. It was put into operation in three stages, concluding in October 2009.
The ‘missing link’ between Katra and Qazigund was by far the most arduous and treacherous section of the route. The chosen alignment passes through the Reasi district, which has poor infrastructure and limited access. The Shivalik and Pir Panjal mountains lie in an earthquake-prone zone which includes some geologically unstable and unpredictable terrain. Two deep gorges also had to be crossed: the Chenab River and its tributary the Anji Khad.
As part of the opening celebrations, Prime Minister Modi walked across the 473 m long Anji Khad bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge to be built on the IR network.
Initially, passengers from Delhi will arrive at Katra using Indian Railways’ existing service, which is typically operated by the latest Vande Bharat push-pull trainsets.
The Katra – Baramulla service is operated by a dedicated fleet of trains specially adapted for the tough climate in the mountains of Kashmir.
IR has modified five AC sleeper trains and one Vande Bharat trainset with chair cars for deployment on the route. The adaptations include embedded heating elements in the cab windscreens, and the installation of heated silicon elements in the onboard water tanks to prevent ice damage. Air driers that are used as part of the braking system have also been enhanced to meet local conditions.
However, while passenger traffic is important, the railway is expected to play a significant role in connecting the agricultural producers of Jammu & Kashmir to markets further south. The shorter transit time offered by the railway should favour fresh fruit, vegetable and plant producers in particular, IR believes.
Go deeper: read our detailed description of how the Kashmir rail link was built.
2023-07-04T14:30:00Z
The long-planned railway connection to Kashmir is on course to open throughout by the end of this year, after 30 years of mixed progress which has seen the estimated cost spiral to almost Rs400bn. Raghu Dayal reports.
2021-04-15T13:36:00Z
INDIA: A key milestone has been reached in the construction of the world’s highest railway bridge, with the completion of the main arch of the Chenab Bridge. Intended to carry the rail link to Kashmir across the Chenab river gorge through the …
2014-07-04T14:54:00Z
INDIA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first train to inaugurate the Udhampur – Katra section of the rail link to Jammu & Kashmir on July 4, saying it represented ‘a triumph of every Indian spirit to overcome the arduous hurdles of nature for reaching the people in this …
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