A tight security blanket has been put in place in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly along the railway lines, railway stations and the platforms ahead of the inauguration of much awaited Katra-Srinagar rail link by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely on June 6.
The rail link, which was scheduled to be inaugurated on April 19 by PM Modi, was postponed due to bad weather forecast.
“So far nothing has been issued in “black and white” regarding the VVIP visit, but the security has further been heightened across on the directions of the top officials, so it is expected that the Katra-Srinagar rail link is to be inaugurated by this weekend,” an official said.
They added that the inauguration of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail Project (USBRL) by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is much awaited and a dream project of millions of people.
As per sources, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the world’s tallest Chenab Rail Bridge and Anji Khad Rail Bridge during expected visit on June 6, and will also flag off the special Kashmir edition of Vande Bharat Express from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station to Srinagar.
He may also address a public programme at the Sports Ground, Katra.
This will be the first visit of the Prime Minister to Jammu and Kashmir during ongoing Operation Sindoor and post April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians, including 25 tourists and a local, were killed.
Out of the total 272-km, Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase (118km Qazigund-Baramulla section) commissioned in October 2009, followed by (18-km) Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, (25-km) Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and (48.1 km ) Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46- km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra which was also completed in February-March this year that led to the start of trial run of trains including of Vande Bharat.
The Katra to Srinagar Vande Bharat Express will have features like heating systems, anti-spall layers, and automatic doors.
The train is designed to operate smoothly in cold weather, down to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
The Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat will run on the world’s highest railway arch bridge and Anji Bridge constructed on river Chenab in Reasi district.
