Srinagar, Oct 13: Despite facing geological, topographical, and meteorological challenges, General Manager of Northern Railway, Shobhan Chaudhuri, stated that work on the remaining section is progressing vigorously. He emphasized that each day brings the Indian Railway closer to linking the Kashmir Valley with the wider railway network.
A Central Spokesman of Northern Railways told Rising Kashmir that GM Chaudhuri Friday carried out an intensive inspection of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project and other ongoing railway works in Jammu and Kashmir.
He was accompanied by Sandeep Gupta, CAO, USBRL, Anil Kumar Khandelwal, PED/Gati Shakti Railway Board Sanjay Gupta, CMD/KRCL, R.K. Hegde, Director/ KRCL Manoj Akhouri, PCOM/NR and other senior officers of USBRL Project and Firozpur Division.
General Manager of Northern Railways, Shobhan Chaudhuri, oversaw the inspection of the Anji cable stay bridge, where he commended the progress on this crucial structure. He announced that track linking on the bridge is scheduled to start on November 23, following the completion of fine-tuning tasks. Furthermore, Chaudhuri conducted an inspection of the Chenab bridge, traversing from the Bakkal end to the Kouri end using a motor trolley. He also examined the ongoing work of ballastless track linking in the Dugga yard.
Earlier he commenced his inspection from Katra onwards by motor trolley up to tunnel T1 and thereafter conducted exhaustive inspection and review of tunnel T1 at site with USBRL officers.
GM also appreciated the good work being done by the project team under the extremely challenging geological conditions and advised them to follow all safety protocols.
Later he inspected track, E&M and S&T works in the 5.2 KM long Tunnel T-2 and expressed satisfaction regarding the quality and progress of these works.
Chaudhuri reviewed the progress of the USBRL project at Chenab Bridge site with the officials of NR, KRCL & IRCON. He directed the project authorities to closely monitor all balance works so that there are no slippages. Progress of Security infrastructure and comprehensive disaster management plan of USBRL project were also reviewed by the officer.
On March 22 this year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the operation of the country’s first indigenous semi-high speed train on the Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramulla rail route. The new age train is likely to be introduced by the end of this year.
Vaishnaw stated that the Udhampur-Banihal track connecting Jammu with Srinagar will be completed by December this year, or early next year.
