Five new Rly surveys underway in J&K: Centre

Srinagar, Mar 12: The Union government on Wednesday said that five new railway surveys are currently underway in Jammu and Kashmir, while several other railway projects remain stalled due to feasibility and cost concerns.
Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh rail project was dropped due to high costs and low de-mand. Similarly, the Jammu-Poonch railway line remains on hold over feasibility is-sues. However, the Banihal-Baramulla rail linye doubling has been placed on the gov-ernment’s priority list.
Despite the strategic importance of the region, Vaishnaw clarified that there are no im-mediate plans to conduct a railway survey for a link between Ganderbal in Kashmir and Kargil in Ladakh.
He added that railway projects are planned based on factors such as traffic demand, operational needs, and overall funding availability rather than on a district-wise or state-wise basis.
The minister also informed that a survey for the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh railway line was conducted in 2016-17, and the 480-km project was estimated to cost ₹55,896 crore. However, it was not pursued further due to low traffic projections.
Meanwhile, the government said that Rajouri and Poonch districts continue to lack railway connectivity, with no immediate plans to prioritize a rail link between Reasi-Katra and Rajouri. A survey for a new Jammu-Poonch rail line via Akhnoor and Rajouri (223 km) had been completed earlier, with an estimated cost of ₹22,771 crore. Howev-er, it has not moved forward due to low passenger demand.
The Minister also said that the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line has been identified as a strategic project by the Ministry of Defence. The survey for this 489-km project has been completed, and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been prepared, with an es-timated cost of ₹1,31,000 crore.
On the other hand, the government is conducting five new railway surveys in J&K, which include Baramulla-Uri (46 km), Sopore-Kupwara (37 km), Anantnag-Pahalgam (78 km), Avantipore-Shopian (28 km) and Banihal-Baramulla Doubling (118 km).
While the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) has been fully completed, providing improved connectivity in several districts of Jammu & Kashmir, the future ex-pansion of railway lines to Rajouri and Poonch remains uncertain.
The government cited funding constraints, feasibility concerns, and other challenges like land acquisition, environmental clearances, and law and order issues as factors affecting railway expansion in the UT.