The much awaited Kashmir link of Indian Railways will be ready by the end of this year, and the Vande Bharat Express will run on the line by next year, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday after inspecting progress of work, according to ministry officials in Delhi. “There is good progress on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line. Work on Chenab and Anji bridges, and major tunnels, is also going (ahead) and there is good progress.. The train will chug on this route in December or January-February next year,” Vaishnaw told reporters in Srinagar, according to a PTI report. He said a specially designed Vande Bharat train is being developed for this line. Factors such as temperature, snow, etc, have been kept in mind while manufacturing this special train, he said. “Once the line is opened, you will have the Vande Bharat train in the middle of 2024,” the minister said. Anji Bridge over the Anji gorge, India’s first cable-stayed bridge, a vital link on the line, is progressing fast, officials said. The Chenab bridge, the world’s tallest railway bridge, is ready, it was informed. Vaishnaw said a demand has been received for connecting three areas — Sopore-Kupwara, Awantipora-Shopian, and Bijbehara-Pahalgam — with the railway line, and “we will discuss this with J&K L-G, and then with the Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) and Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)”. Anji Bridge, with a span of 450 meters, will be ready by August, the minister said.
