ON SATURDAY morning, when the first Vande Bharat train with 530 passengers on board sounded the whistle at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi railway station here, it marked the beginning of a journey to Kashmir through various engineering marvels and three major geological thrust zones — Reasi, Murrie and Panjal.
An electrically propelled engine hauled eight coaches of Vande Bharat on a historic trip from Katra to Srinagar railway station, a distance of 189 km, at 8:10 am sharp. Of this, 78 km falls between Banihal and Srinagar, and 111 km between Katra and Banihal.
Nearly 97 km of this 111 km is through 27 tunnels, while another 7 km passes over 49 bridges, including the iconic Rail Arch Bridge over Chenab and the cable-stayed bridge over Anji Khad.
As the train left behind Katra town and entered the first 330-metre tunnel (T33) towards Reasi, Mohammad Yaseen, a young geological engineer from Kashmir, exclaimed, “I have worked on its excavation.”
Yaseen was on his way home in Kashmir to celebrate Eid with his parents, wife and child.
Currently working on a railway line in Rishikesh, he arrived in Katra Saturday morning and boarded the Vande Bharat for Srinagar. “My brother, who is coming home by air, is still at the Jammu airport, while I have almost reached Srinagar,” he said.
Many passengers were pilgrims and tourists to Vaishno Devi, who changed their plans at the last minute to take the historic ride.
Deepak Gupta, a government teacher from Uttar Pradesh, who came for “darshan” with two younger brothers, was among them. “On seeing that the ticket was available for Saturday in the first Vande Bharat to Kashmir, we decided to visit the Valley,” he said.
The three will visit the Vaishno Devi shrine near Katra on their return journey.
Anil Bhat, an IT engineer who migrated to Jammu with his parents from Kupwara district following the eruption of terrorism in 1990, said he is going to Kashmir after 35 years. Pointing out that he was 10 when his parents left the Valley, he said he has some faint memories of his native place.
Accompanied by his parents, wife and a teenage daughter, Anil said his father Mohan Lal Bhat, 77, was visiting Kashmir after 20 years.
“We just wanted to explore the train journey and the bridge,” he said, adding that they parked their car at the Katra railway station. ”We will stay in Srinagar for two-three days and I may visit my native place in Kupwara.”
As the train moved against the backdrop of the Shivaliks, Pir Panjal and the Himalayas, over India’s highest and first cable-stayed rail bridge over Anji Khad and the world’s highest rail bridge over Chenab river, the passengers were in awe.
“Our engineers have made it possible with their courage and determination,” said Kalpna Khatri, a housewife going to Kashmir for vacation with her husband and son. “We are very excited as we will be in Srinagar in just three hours. Last time when we took a car, it took almost eight hours.”
The train also connects people and places in isolated and rugged Shivalik and Pir Panjal ranges, said Alam Din of Sopore, who was visiting Kashmir to celebrate Eid with his friends.
“Had it not been for the train, I would have celebrated Eid at home in Jammu,” he said. Alam also pointed out that the train will help people in need of medical help in Kashmir reach super-speciality hospitals outside the Valley.
The Katra-Srinagar rail line forms an important part of the 272-km Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), which has been built at a cost of Rs 43,780 crore.
With heated windshields, advanced heating systems and insulated toilets, the train has been designed to overcome the region’s challenging geography.
During winter, a snow removal locomotive engine will move ahead to clear the tracks, while seismic dampers have been installed to absorb tremors, offering a safer and smoother journey in this high-risk zone, officials said.
Scheduled to run six days a week, it has CORAS commandos deployed on the train, apart from dedicated staff for maintenance.
Passengers in the Vande Bharat train in Srinagar, Saturday. (PTI) 
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