Jammu: The Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal on Tuesday authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country, railway officials said.
This comes nearly a week after conducting a two-day statutory inspection of the Katra-Reasi section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway link.
They said the CRS gave the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the concerned ministry and railway authorities including the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8, signalling the completion of the much awaited ‘dream project’.
The work on the project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and has missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km USBRL project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009 followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra and this section was finally completed in December 2024.
Quoting the letter, the officials said the CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by motor trolley, on foot followed by speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal and authorised regular opening of the section for the public carriage of passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
However, the officials said the authorisation is subject to the compliance of various conditions, guidelines and stipulations.
Talking to reporters on reaching Banihal after the successful high-speed trial run from Katra railway station, Deshwal said the trial run at 110 kmph on the 180-degree rising grade in such a challenging geography from Katra to Banihal has written a new chapter in the history of railways.
Last month, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the completion of the Reasi-Katra section, an important development that will connect Kashmir with the rest of the country.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways have conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
