New Delhi: Indian Railways on Thursday conducted a successful trial run on the world’s highest railway bridge — Chenab Rail Bridge – located in Jammu & Kashmir.
In what is considered to be an engineering marvel, the bridge has been built between Sangaldan in Ramban district and Reasi.
Services on the line will start soon, ANI quoted officials as saying.
Watch the video of trial run shared on X by ANI:
#WATCH | J&K: Indian Railway conducts a trial run on the newly constructed world’s highest railway bridge-Chenab Rail Bridge, built between Sangaldan in Ramban district and Reasi. Rail services on the line will start soon pic.twitter.com/gHGxhMHYe3
— ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2024
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared in a post on X that successful trial run of MEMU train has been conducted between Sangaldan and Reasi section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project in Jammu & Kashmir.
Successful trial run of MEMU train between Sangaldan – Reasi section of USBRL project.
📍Jammu & Kashmir pic.twitter.com/GjaKX6Ci8Q
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) June 20, 2024
The entire USBRL project will be completed by the end of 2024. As of now, trains run from Kanyakumari to Katra, and from Baramulla to Sangaldan in Kashmir Valley.
The Chenab Rail Bridge stands 359 metres (around 109 feet) above Chenab river in Jammu & Kashmir region, and is around 35 metres taller than Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The 1,315 metre-long bridge is part of an ambitious project to make Kashmir valley accessible to railway passengers in the rest of the country.
Approved in December 2004, the project faced lot of difficulties due to the rough terrain of northern Jammu & Kashmir.
Track-laying was finally completed around March 2023.