Now Reading: Katra-Srinagar rail link clears final safety hurdle
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Katra-Srinagar rail link clears final safety hurdle
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Northern Circle, Dinesh Chand Deshwal, completed the statutory safety inspection of the Katra-Srinagar section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) on 7 August. He inspected the…
The Story in Brief
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Northern Circle, Dinesh Chand Deshwal, completed the statutory safety inspection of the Katra-Srinagar section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) on 7 August. He inspected the corridor from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to Srinagar and expressed satisfaction with construction quality and safety standards, officials said.
The inspection covered track, tunnels, bridges, stations, signalling and emergency response. The 119-km section includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, among them the world's highest railway bridge over Chenab at 359 metres and Indian Railways' first cable-stayed bridge at Anji Khad. The railway administration will implement the CRS's suggestions within a stipulated timeframe to start passenger services.
The Indian Opinion
The CRS clearance is a technical milestone, not a ticket to ride. Media breathlessly call the USBRL an 'engineering marvel' but skip the repeated cost overruns and years of delay that made it a national joke. The real question: will passenger services start by this winter, or will another 'final' inspection be needed? Watch for the date of the first commercial train, that one number will tell us if the hype matches the reality.
Sources (2): greaterkashmir.com, swarajyamag.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
