SRINAGAR: In a landmark development, nearly 800 Army soldiers arrived in Srinagar by train on Tuesday, completing the first full rail journey from Delhi to the Kashmir Valley following the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), The Print website reported.
The soldiers, who were returning from leave, had been stranded at various locations due to flight cancellations to Jammu and Kashmir. Defence and security officials told the portal that a train carrying the personnel departed from Delhi and reached Katra, where the soldiers transferred to another train that took them to Srinagar. The Katra–Srinagar leg of the journey was completed in approximately four hours.
This marks the first time such a full through-rail movement has taken place since the strategic USBRL project was completed, linking the Kashmir Valley with the rest of India by train for the first time.
The historic journey follows a successful trial run in January 2025, when a 22-coach train operated between Katra and Srinagar. The railway authorities have now sanctioned a maximum permissible speed of 85 kilometres per hour on the main line and 15 kilometres per hour on turnouts, applicable to both passenger and freight trains.
The final leg of the ambitious USBRL project — the 17-kilometre stretch between Reasi and Katra, was completed in December 2024. This completion capped over two decades of work on the 272-kilometre project, which began in 1997 but faced numerous delays due to the region’s complex geology and challenging weather and terrain.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to formally inaugurate the final Katra–Srinagar section last month, but the visit was postponed due to inclement weather ThePrint reported.
