Trial run: Electric train chugs over world’s highest arch rail bridge
Barely three days after Northern Railways conducted a trial run of an electric engine between Sangaldan in Ramban district and Reasi on June 16, an eight-bogie electric train on Thursday successfully conducted a trial run between the two stations, including world’s tallest arch rail bridge, called eighth wonder of the world, over the Chenab river in Reasi.
Barely three days after Northern Railways conducted a trial run of an electric engine between Sangaldan in Ramban district and Reasi on June 16, an eight-bogie electric train on Thursday successfully conducted a trial run between the two stations, including world’s tallest arch rail bridge, called eighth wonder of the world, over the Chenab river in Reasi.
“An electric train with eight bogies carrying officials and staff of the Northern Railways successfully conducted a trial run between Sangaldan in Ramban and Reasi at a speed of 40 km per hour,” said a Railways official.
The route length of 46 km on the Udhampur Baramulla Srinagar rail link (USBRL) project was covered at a speed of 40 kmph, he said.
It was successfully carried out starting at 12.35 hrs (12.35 pm) from Sangaldan and reaching Reasi at 14:05 hrs (2.05 pm).
On the way it passed through nine tunnels with a combined length of 40.787 Km and the longest tunnel T-44 of 11.13 km.
It was the first ever full train that crossed over the iconic bridge between Dugga and Bakkal stations over the Chenab river, which is the world’s highest railway bridge with a central span of 467 meters at a staggering height of 359 meters, said the official.
The stations Reasi, Bakkal, Dugga and Sawlakote are situated in Reasi district of J&K.
The railway electrification work on this section has been executed with state-of-the-art technology, rigid overhead conductor system (ROCS) at 25 kV, for the first time on the Indian Railways.
He informed that commissioner of railways safety, DC Deshwal is likely to conduct trial runs on the track between Sangaldan and Reasi from June 26 to 28.
The regular train service from Reasi to Kashmir is likely to begin from June 30, he added.
“While Sangaldan-Baramulla section has already been commissioned, today’s trial run on Reasi-Sangaldan has paved the way for the trains to chug into Kashmir,” he said.
This rail link can also serve as a safe option for the Amarnath pilgrims, in case there’s is disruption on Jammu-Srinagar national highway (NH44),” said the official.
The annual Amarnath pilgrimage starts June 29 for 52 days.
The arch bridge, an engineering marvel, soars 359 metres above the riverbed and is 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower.
Last year, Railways officials had hoped that trains to Kashmir including ‘Vande Bharat’ may start chugging on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project by January this year.
However, the unforeseen challenges in the fragile Himalayan region delayed the completion.
The bridge has come up at a height of 359 metres above the riverbed, the highest rail bridge in the world, and 28,000 tonnes of steel has gone into it.
The one side of the foundation of this bridge is equal to half of the soccer field. The foundations have been made with technology to resist 8 magnitude quakes on the Richter scale.
Similarly, 18,000 bars and cables were used to provide strong foundations and a stable bridge.
In the event of a quake, seismic waves from foundations to the bridge structure above would be checked by bearings. While impact of the quake will be tolerated by the foundations, the bearings will not allow the waves to travel into the structure above.
The eco-fragile Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir falls in seismic zones 4 and 5, making it highly vulnerable to quakes.
The work on the USBRL project started in 2005-06.
The bridge can also withstand strong winds up to the speed of 266 km per hour.
The bridge has come up at a cost of ₹1,548 crore.
The 1.3-kilometre-long bridge, which is 35 metres higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris, forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, which is part of the ₹21,653 crore Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project.
In view of importance of USBRL project in providing seamless and hassle-free connectivity, the 272-km-long project was declared a “national project” in 2002.
