A senior police officer said, ‘The DGP inspected the 17 km long track. He went to the world’s highest railway arch bridge built on the Chenab river at Kauri village. He also inspected the country’s first cable stay rail bridge built on the Anji river.’
New Vande Bharat Train: The dream of connecting Kashmir with the railway network has come true. The specially designed Vande Bharat Express train was successfully trialled on Saturday. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi can inaugurate the Vande Bharat train running from Katra to Srinagar next week. Northern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said, ‘No date has been fixed for this yet, but the Vande Bharat train between Katra and Srinagar will be inaugurated soon.’ He said that the trial run of the train is being done every day. Actually, the Katra-Banihal rail section is new. Therefore, additional tests are being done to ensure safety.
The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project is 272 km long in which the Katra-Reasi section was the most difficult. Meanwhile, Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat visited Reasi on Monday to review the security of the newly laid track. A senior police officer said, ‘The DGP inspected the 17 km long track. He went to the world’s highest railway arch bridge built on the Chenab river in Kauri village. He also reviewed the country’s first cable stay rail bridge built on the Anji river. During this, the DGP took information about the security arrangements being made for the rail track, tunnels and bridge.
’10 years of hard work to complete the railway line’
Northern Railway Chief Area Manager Saqib Yusuf called the successful trial of the Vande Bharat train historic. He said, ‘This is a historic step. It reflects our Prime Minister’s vision of connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country.’ Yusuf said that the purpose of the test was also to find out how much time the train would take on different sections. He said that the successful completion of the trial is the result of hard work done to complete the line in the last 10 years.
How special is this Vande Bharat Express train
The Railway Safety Commissioner had given the green signal for the operation of train service on the Katra-Baramulla section. The date of the inaugural ceremony to be held in Katra has not been announced yet. According to officials, the Railway Board unveiled the Vande Bharat Express train on June 8 last year. The train includes climate features. It includes a heat system that prevents water from freezing in the water and bio-toilets tanks.
