Kashmir rail project nearing completion, will be inaugurated soon

Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw Wednesday stated that the Centre allocated Rs 3694 Cr for railway projects in J&K, in the union budget for the Financial Year 2024-25.

In the same vein, he announced that the long-awaited Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project was nearing completion and very soon it would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Vaishnaw said that annual average budget outlay for railway infrastructure and safety projects in J&K during the period 2009-14 was Rs 1044 Cr thus allocation of Rs 3694 Cr in 2024-25 was a substantial increase by 3.5 times approximately.

Giving a brief account of projects commissioned during 2014-2024, Vaishnaw stated that new tracks of 87 km were laid; 344 km electrification, against zero km during 2009-14, was done.

“J&K is 100 percent electrified. Besides six rail flyovers and under-bridges were commissioned during this period,” he informed.

The work on the ongoing project, related to laying of new tracks of 272 kms at the cost of Rs 41,159 Cr, was underway, Vaishnaw said.