Heated coaches, airport-like security check: Five trains planned from Delhi to Kashmir

“The manufacturing of these five rakes has been completed and the trains are ready for operation. It may be launched in the first month of the next year, not all five at the same time. It will have 22-coaches each. As of now, there is no plan to run Vande Bharat Sleeper train from Delhi. However, an eight coach Vande Bharat train, with chair car seating, will run on Katra to Baramulla stretch (around 250 km) of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL),” said the senior official, who did not wish to be identified.

The official further said that the wheels of the coaches and the front glass of the engine are designed to avoid accumulation of snow. Additionally, on-board heating will ensure defrosting of any snow accumulation in sub-zero temperatures.

“Special emphasis has been given to the security of the train. The coaches will be sanitised before leaving the platform on either side. The passengers for Srinagar will go through a special security check, similar to the security check at the airport. There will be more Railways Protection Force (RPF) personnel in comparison to normal route trains. The security concerns cannot be ignored,” said the official quoted above.

However, the decision of plying the trains is contingent upon the nod from the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). The Katra to Reasi stretch (17km) of 272-km long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link (USBRL) project is still in works and the CRS is yet to inspect the site.

“The CRS inspection of the stretch is expected by the first week of January…The work has been completed and the trial run of tower wagons on the cable-stayed railway bridge at Anji Khad (connecting the Katra and Reasi sections) is ongoing,” said the official.

The ambitious USBRL project, also called the Kashmir line, was sanctioned in 1994-95. However, it was wrecked by landslides and other adverse geological effects in the past 25 years and its cost has increased manifolds to the current estimate of Rs 37,500 crore. The iconic 359-meter high Chenab Bridge lies on this line. It is 35 meters taller than the Eiffel tower.

The construction of the first three phases of the project was completed by 2014 and trains have been running between Baramulla and Banihal in the Kashmir valley, and between Jammu, Udhampur, and Katra in Jammu region.

The work on the intervening 111-Km section Katra-Banihal was the arduous and treacherous portion due to its geology and extensive riverine system replete with deep gorges. Out of this 111-km section, a 48-km section from Banihal to Sangaldan was commissioned in February 2024 and another 46-km long Sangaldan-Reasi section received CRS authorisation on July 01, 2024. If CRS gives approval for the remaining Katra-Reasi section, Indian Railways will go ahead to launch the train services.

With the opening of this line, the government also aims to run trains from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, connecting far North and South of India. “A project connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari is now ready, and trains will start running on this route within the next four months. This will be a major achievement for India,” Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said in the Lok Sabha.