News Brief
Indian Railways Takes Up Five Surveys In J&K, Including Four New Rail Lines And Banihal-Baramulla Doubling
The iconic Chenab Bridge in J&K(@rajat6888/Twitter)
Indian Railways has recently taken up five surveys in Jammu and Kashmir, including plans for four new rail lines and the doubling of an existing line.
These projects aim to improve connectivity in the Union Territory, particularly in hilly and border areas.
The new railway line surveys include the Baramulla-Uri (46 km), Sopore-Kupwara (37 km), Anantnag-Pahalgam (78 km), and Avantipore-Shopian (28 km) routes, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in response to a question in the Lok Sabha.
Additionally, a survey has been initiated for doubling the Banihal-Baramulla section, spanning 118 km.
Vaishnaw also said that the survey for new line between Jammu and Poonch via Akhnur and Rajauri (223 km) was also carried out, with the estimated cost pegged at Rs 22,771 crore.
He further said that the work on new railway line in Jammu & Kashmir under the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of total length 272 Km has already been completed.
USBRL project covers the district of Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla in Jammu & Kashmir.
The minister said that sanctioning of railway projects is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railway.
"Railway Infrastructure Projects are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes including connectivity to hilly and border areas, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands," Vaishnaw said.
