Indian Railways successfully completes high-speed trial from Katra to Banihal, paving way for direct Kashmir services
The Indian Railways marked a pivotal moment with a successful speed trial from Katra to Banihal, indicating potential for direct rail service between Kashmir and the rest of India. The trial, overseen by Commissioner of Railway Safety Dinesh Chand Deshwal, represents a significant achievement in the USBRL project.
Alandmark achievement in Indian Railways was reported following a successful high-speed trial from Katra to Banihal, signaling the potential for direct rail service connectivity to Kashmir. This key development was confirmed by Northern Circle’s Commissioner of Railway Safety, Dinesh Chand Deshwal.
Deshwal highlighted the trial as a crucial milestone, completed over a challenging 180-degree rising grade at 110 kilometers per hour, marking a new epoch in railway history. He credited the engineers whose work underpinned this success. The data from this trial will undergo thorough analysis before a decision on commencing services is made by the Centre.
Talking to reporters on reaching Banihal after the successful high-speed trial run from Katra station, Deshwal said his team would return to Katra and all the collected data would be analysed before a decision was taken on the start of direct train services to Kashmir.
“The trial run at 110 kilometres per hour on the 180-degree rising grade in such a challenging geography from Katra to Banihal has written a new chapter in the history of the Railways. The trial run was smooth and filled us with a sense of fulfilment and the credit for it goes to our engineers who have done such a great work,” the CRS said.
The trial train left Katra station at 10:30 am and reached Banihal station within one-and-a-half hours. The train left for Katra on its return journey at 2 pm and is expected to reach its destination by 3:30 pm.
Deshwal, who reached Katra on a two-day statutory inspection of the newly completed railway line, said the Centre would take the final decision on the start of services between Kashmir and the rest of the country.
“I am not in a position to talk about it (start of services). The statutory inspection will be completed by this evening and all the gathered data analysed in accordance with guidelines of the Northern Railway,” he said.
The CRS said the inspection and the trial runs on the trek had been satisfactory so far.
“Our infrastructure is outstanding and very soon a fair decision will be taken based on our report,” he added.
Last month, Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the completion of the Reasi-Katra section, an important development for connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country after nearly three decades of work.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The Railways have conducted six trial runs over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Of the total 272-kilometre Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 kilometres were commissioned in phases.
Officials said the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and missed several deadlines due to geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Kashmir rail link has two engineering marvels in Reasi district—world’s highest rail arch bridge over Chenab River and India’s first cable stayed rail bridge over Anji river.
The CRS expressed satisfaction over quality of work done by the northern railways.
In December, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the completion of Reasi-Katra section.
Deshwal will be visiting the iconic arch bridge at Kauri before to and fro speed trial of Katra-Banihal by CRS Special on Wednesday afternoon.
On January 4, trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on Katra-Banihal section. The railways have conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including Anji Khad Bridge and Chenab bridge.
The length of rail track from Katra to Banihal is 111 kilometers. The section includes 27 tunnels and 37 bridges. The longest rail tunnel in the country, T-49, which is 12.75 kilometers long, falls on this section.
The work on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project started in 2005-06. The 118-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla rail section in Kashmir was inaugurated in October 2009. The 18-km Banihal-Qazigund and 25-km Udhampur-Katra sections were commissioned in June 2013 and July 2014. In February this year, the trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on 40-km of track between Banihal and Sangaldan.
The railway line to Kashmir has 38 tunnels. The longest among them, T-49, measuring 12.75 km is the country’s longest rail tunnel. The line has 927 bridges. It includes the world’s highest railway arch bridge over the Chenab River in Reasi (359 metres).
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17-km stretch between Reasi and Katra and this section was finally completed in December 2024.
Despite delays due to geographic and climatic challenges since its inception in 1997, the USBRL project nears completion, promising enhanced connectivity. Prior trials, including electric runs, demonstrate burgeoning progress, setting the stage for integrating Kashmir more robustly with the national railway network.