GENERAL MANAGER, NORTHERN RAILWAY INSPECTS ONGOING KATRA- BANIHAL RAIL SECTION OF JAMMU & KASHMIR RAIL PROJECT TODAY

24-09-2015

GENERAL MANAGER, NORTHERN RAILWAY INSPECTS ONGOING KATRA- BANIHAL RAIL SECTION OF JAMMU & KASHMIR RAIL PROJECT TODAY

Sh.A.K.Puthia General Manager/Northern Railway reviewed the progress of the o­ngoing Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, a Project of National Importance. He undertook an inspection of various sections –Bridge Sites and Tunnels of this project. He was accompanied by senior officers associated with the Project from Northern Railway and Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.

The General Manager took a keen interest into construction modalities going over into all the aspects of o­ngoing and proposed works. Some of the salient sites which were inspected were the stretch between Reasi and Tunnel No T-1, Anji Bridge site between Katra and Reasi, Anji khud and proposed portal P2 of Tunnel T-2., Tunnel No T3 besides Inspection of location of proposed Major bridge no. 39 in Reasi, Escape Tunnel of Tunnel T5 from Portal 1 side, Inspection of Main Tunnel T-5 from Portal 1 side. He also perused the General Arrangement Drawings of Anji bridge site, drawings of the old alignment and topographical maps. The General Manager appreciated the quality of work being carried out and maintenance quality of tunnel profiles.

He was briefed at length by senior officers of the various stages of o­ngoing construction sites, handling of location-specific difficulties, design of Main tunnels for railway traffic and smaller parallel escape tunnels to meet emergencies.

This 110.30 km long rail section between Kata and Banihal is the most difficult part of the project entailing construction of tunnels, bridges/viaducts.  Of the entire leg of this section 89 km lies in tunnels.  Most of the construction sites o­n this section are o­n previously unchartered territory where there was no habitation electricity, water and roads.

Brief Background Information:

The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project has been demarcated into phased programme for convenience in planning and execution and work was started simultaneously at all locations viz. Udhampur – Katra (25.6km), Katra – Banihal (110.30km), Banihal – Qazigund (17.70km) and Qazigund – Baramulla (118.00km). Three phases have been commissioned while construction work is in progress o­n the Katra – Banihal (110.30km) portion.

The rail line in the Kashmir Valley was constructed in a phased programme with the Railway steadily commissioning rail sections in different stages, Anantnag and Mazahom were connected in October 2008, followed by Mazahom-Baramulla section in February 2009, and subsequently 18 km long section between Quazigund to Anantnag in October 2009 thus completing the 119 kilometre Qazigund-Baramulla railway line of the Kashmir Valley.  To knit the Kashmir Valley region to the Jammu region, the Railway commissioned the 11.3 km long Pir Panjal Tunnel and opened the Banihal-Qazigund railway section to public on 26.06.2013. The Target date of completion of the remaining portion i.e. Katra-Banihal rail section is December 2020.

13 pairs of DEMU trains are presently servicing in the Kashmir Valley region. The coaches of the Special DEMU trains have a seating capacity of 90 each, with heating arrangement, wider windows for panoramic view and ergonomically designed cushioned chair etc. for pleasant and comfortable journey. The DEMU train is self powered by 2 Diesel Power Cars each fitted with a diesel engine of capacity 1400 HP. These DEMU services run all 365 days in a year even when the roads are blocked due to heavy snow fall and land-slides barring a few occasions in the year when the DEMU services remained inoperative due to floods or boulders falling o­n track.