Now Reading: Vande Bharat train runs on world’s highest railway bridge
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Vande Bharat train runs on world’s highest railway bridge
Northern Railway has released a video of the Vande Bharat Express running at full speed on the Chenab Rail Bridge, the world's highest railway arch bridge. The bridge stands 359 metres above the Chenab River, making it taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which is 324 metres high. The railway called the bridge 'India's pride' in the video's caption.
The 1,315-metre-long Chenab Rail Bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project. It was designed to withstand earthquakes, high winds and explosions. The bridge used about 25,000 tonnes of steel in its construction.
The final successful test on this track was conducted in January 2025, and the Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat service began later. In April 2026, it was extended to Jammu Tawi. As of now, 162 Vande Bharat trains operate across India, carrying over 9.1 crore passengers since the service launched in 2019.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Chenab Rail Bridge completes a decades-old dream of linking the Kashmir Valley by rail to the rest of India. The USBRL project, first conceived in the 1990s, faced repeated delays due to difficult terrain and security concerns. Now operational, it cuts travel time between Srinagar and Jammu dramatically. The next milestone to watch is the full commissioning of the remaining section to bring the line all the way to Delhi, which would make passenger and freight movement year-round independent of the highway.
Source: aajtak.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.
