Kashmir Rail Link: PM Modi To Launch Train Service Between Banihal And Sangaldan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the eight-coach electric train between Banihal and Sangaldan, part of the Kashmir rail link project, on 20 February.

The 48.1-kilometre (km)-long Banihal-Sangaldan section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link (USBRL) project is now ready for operation after the successful trial run in this section.

The USBRL project stands as one of independent India's most ambitious Himalayan railway endeavours.

According to the Railways, the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section is a significant segment of the Katra-Banihal section. It was constructed at a cost of Rs 15,863 crore.

The existing train service from Baramulla to Banihal will be extended up to Sangaldan, a town near the district headquarter of Ramban.

The section has 16 bridges, including 11 major bridges, four minor bridges, and one road over bridge. More than 90 per cent of this section is in tunnels, with a total of 11 tunnels covering 43.37 km, including the country's longest transportation tunnel, T-50, stretching 12.77 km in the Khari-Sumber section.

Spanning the challenging terrain of the Pir Panjal ranges, the train service aims to establish an all-weather, comfortable, and economically feasible transportation network, connecting the remote Himalayan areas with the rest of the country.

The first electric-engine train with eight coaches here ran for a trial from the Sangaldan-Khari part on the 111-km-long Banihal-Katra section of the USBRL project this week.

For safety and rescue, there are three escape tunnels with a combined length of 30.1 km. Additionally, the section includes 30 curves spanning 23.72 km.

To further enhance passenger safety and comfort, several advanced features have been incorporated, such as ballastless track and canted turnouts (a first for Indian Railways), LED signals, centralised electronic interlocking, block working with the UFSBI (universal fail safe block instrument) and the 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 and data acquisition).

It's noteworthy that all station yards on this section extend either onto bridges or into tunnels.

Besides the train operation, the flexible overhead conductor system has been provided on the Baramulla-Banihal section, and the rigid overhead conductor system, a first on Indian Railways, facilitates railway electrification on the Banihal-Sangaldan section, including the T-50.

The electrification of the Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan section of the USBRL project spans 185.66 route km, serving 19 railway stations.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 470.23 crore with electrification, it is possible to operate the Vande Bharat train in this section.

The USBRL project seeks to integrate the Kashmir Valley with the Jammu region and the national rail network, spanning a total length of 272 km, of which 161 km has already been commissioned.

The latest sanctioned cost of the project is Rs 37,012 crore and the cumulative expenditure is Rs 38,256 crore.