A 140-year-old dream gets fulfilled with Kashmir-Kanyakumari rail link

India Today

06-06-2025

It was 1884 and Maharaja Pratap Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir state asked his Prime Minister, Diwan Anant Ram, to write a letter to the Government of British India. In the letter he would propose a vision to connect his state to the Raj's rail network in the subcontinent. One of his dreams was fulfilled but was lost to the Partition. Another never moved beyond paper. But the third rail route the Maharaja proposed and even started initial surveys on, has finally come to life today, 141 years later.advertisementAs Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chenab and Anji Khad bridges, the long-isolated Kashmir rail line was finally integrated into India's national railway network. It also completed the Maharaja's century-old vision.Vikramaditya Singh, the great-grandnephew of Maharaja Pratap Singh and grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh, says, "The railway line project was first envisaged and drawn up during Maharaja Pratap Singh's rule. It is a matter of great pride not only for the people of Jammu and Kashmir but for the entire nation that this dream will be realised by our Prime Minister."
The journey to this milestone was arduous, delayed by political upheavals, financial constraints, and formidable geographical challenges. Despite the Maharaja's foresight, colonial hesitations, two world wars, the Partition, stalled much progress on this route, until serious efforts were made in the 1980s under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. advertisementTHE MAHARAJA'S PLAN TO CONNECT KASHMIR BY RAILAlong with his proposal to the British through the Diwan, Maharaja Pratap Singh commissioned British engineers to survey the rugged terrain for a railway route to the Kashmir Valley in the early 1890s.The three routes the Maharaja had proposed were: Abbottabad to Srinagar, which never happened, a Jammu to Srinagar route powered by electric traction, and a Jammu to Sialkot route, which has been lying dysfunctional since Partition and Independence.The line to Jammu was an extension of the North Western Railway (NWR) from Suchetgarh in Sialkot District (now in Pakistan), unlike the Northern Railways' route used now, via Ludhiana and Pathankot. The Sialkot-Jammu route was declared open in March 1890. But five decades later in 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir's first railway line was lost.Soon, the momentum of the independence movement picked up, then World War I struck, and before the project could progress, Maharaja Pratap Singh passed away.And the remaining projects, including the Jammu-Srinagar railway line, were put on the back burner, partially also due to financial constraints.
Maharaja Pratap Singh, determined to connect Kashmir with the broader Indian railway network, backed multiple ambitious proposals, from a light railway between Jammu and Srinagar to a mono-steel-cableway stretching to Doru Shahabad. However, only the Jammu-Sialkot line materialised in 1890.
REVIVING A CENTURY-OLD VISION: THE JAMMU-UDHAMPUR-SRINAGAR RAILWAY PROJECTThe idea was revived nearly nine decades later, when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar railway line in 1983. By then, Jammu had been reconnected to the Indian Railways through Ludhiana and Pathankot, ending the Indian state's isolation after the Sialkot line was lost to Pakistan following Partition.In 1983, the project was estimated to cost Rs 50 crore and was expected to be completed in five years. However, in 13 years, only 11 km of the rail line could be constructed, comprising 19 tunnels and 11 bridges, at a cost of Rs 300 crore.Then, the Udhampur-Katra-Baramulla railway project, estimated at Rs 2,500 crore, was taken up under prime ministers HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral. The construction began in 1997 but faced repeated delays due to challenging geological, topographical, and weather conditions.Recognising the strategic importance of a railway line to the Valley, it was declared a national project in 2002.advertisementBy 2005, the 55-km Jammu-Udhampur section, the first major push into the Himalayan foothills, beyond the Jammu plains, was thrown open.
Encircled by the towering Himalayas, the Kashmir Valley has long remained an isolated pocket on India's railway map, with its own standalone rail network disconnected from the national grid. (Image: IndiaRailInfo)
Meanwhile, work on the Kashmir Valley railway started in isolation, like an island network disconnected from the rest of the Indian Railways.The 119-km Baramulla-Srinagar-Anantnag-Qazigund section was completed and made operational in 2009, providing intra-Valley connectivity. However, integration with the broader Indian Railways grid remained elusive as the challenging Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project progressed slowly.In July 2014, the Udhampur-Katra section was inaugurated, providing direct rail access to Vaishno Devi pilgrims and marking another crucial step toward linking Kashmir with the rest of India.It wasn't until August 2023, with the opening of the Banihal-Sangaldan section, and then 2024, with the completion of the final Katra-Sangaldan stretch, closing the gap in the Valley's railway isolation.advertisementAnd with the completion of the engineering marvels -- the Chenab and Anji Khad bridges -- the missing links in the Himalayan route were finally bridged, making the complete integration of the Kashmir rail line with the national network possible.ENGINEERING FEATS, CHALLENGES: HOW KASHMIR WAS CONNECTED TO INDIAN RAILWAY NETWORKThe railway line to Kashmir features as many as 38 tunnels and 927 bridges, with the crown jewel being the Chenab Bridge, soaring 359 metres above the riverbed. It stands 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, earning the title of the world's highest railway arch bridge, officials of the Northern Railways told news agency PTI.Over 215 km of approach roads were built through rugged, terrorism-hit terrain, opening up areas once reachable only by foot or boat.
The Anji Bridge is India's first cable-stayed railway bridge, while the Chenab Bridge is the world's highest railway arch bridge, soaring 359 metres above the riverbed.
Terrorism also posed serious hurdles to the Kashmir railway project, with several attacks targeting construction sites and workers. In 2004, terrorists attacked a construction site near Anantnag, injuring several labourers.advertisementDespite such threats, work continued under tight security. The Banihal-Qazigund tunnel, completed in 2013, passed through some of the most sensitive areas, yet the engineers and workers of the Indian Railway Construction International Limited (Ircon) persevered.With the railway now stretching beyond Srinagar to Baramulla, the much-invoked "duri from Delhi to Kashmir" has finally been bridged with love, and quite literally, by steel and resolve.Must Watch