‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’ a Railway Reality: PM Modi On J&K’s All-Weather Rail Link
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), a monumental engineering feat that provides all-weather rail connectivity to the Kashmir Valley for the first time, fulfilling a decades-old national dream.
Addressing a large gathering in Katra after flagging off the first Vande Bharat Express connecting the region to the rest of India, the Prime Minister described it as a landmark moment.
“Today’s programme is a grand celebration of India’s unity and willpower,” PM Modi declared. “With the blessings of Mata Vaishno Devi, Kashmir has now been connected to India’s vast railway network. For years, we’ve spoken of ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’ with reverence… today, that has become a railway reality.”
The Prime Minister personally inspected key sections of the project, including the iconic Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway arch bridge, and the Anji Khad Bridge, India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge. “While walking on the Chenab and Anji bridges today, I witnessed the lofty aspirations of India and the skill and courage of our engineers and workers,” he said.
Calling it a deeply emotional and symbolic achievement, PM Modi added, “The dream of lakhs of people in Jammu & Kashmir has finally been fulfilled. It is indeed our government’s good fortune that this project picked up pace during our tenure, and we brought it to completion.”
The 272-km-long USBRL project, built at a cost of approximately ₹43,780 crore, cuts through the treacherous Himalayan terrain. It is an engineering marvel comprising 36 tunnels spanning 119 km (including the country’s longest transportation tunnel, T-50) and 943 bridges.
Highlighting the project’s immense complexity, Modi noted that the government chose to “challenge the challenge itself” to overcome the formidable engineering and logistical hurdles.
The milestone event comes just weeks after the Indian Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. The completion of the rail link is being viewed not only as a developmental leap but also as a project of immense strategic importance, allowing for the rapid and reliable movement of security forces and supplies to the border region.
The newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express will drastically reduce travel time between Katra and Srinagar to approximately three hours, providing a safer, faster, and more economical alternative to the often-unreliable Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which is prone to closures due to landslides and heavy snowfall in winter. The new train service is expected to provide a major boost to tourism, trade, and the overall economy of Jammu and Kashmir.
