PM Modi Inaugurates World’s Highest Railway Bridge and Flags Off Vande Bharat in Jammu & Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated the Chenab Railway Bridge, the world’s highest arch bridge of railways and the country’s first cable-stayed railway bridge at Anji, a milestone in India’s connectivity and infrastructure chapter. The Chenab Bridge is 359 meters above the river Chenab and taller than the Eiffel Tower and is an important link of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.

Standing at 1,315 meters in length, the Chenab Bridge is defined by sophisticated engineering to fight through extreme seismicity and 266 km/h winds Built with blast-resistant steel and concrete, it defines security and strategy emphasis in a vulnerable border region open to natural and human-induced threats.

PM Modi inaugurated the USBRL project, linking the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India on a 272-kilometer long rail track. The ambitious Rs 43,780 crore project has 36 tunnels along 119 kilometers and 943 bridges, providing rail connectivity throughout the year for greater mobility, economic growth, and integration in the region.

Apart from the bridge inauguration, PM Modi also inaugurated two Vande Bharat Express trains between Srinagar and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. World-class trains provide domestic passengers, pilgrims, and tourists with speed, comfort, and reliability too, as well as improve connectivity to the best destinations, such as the world-famous Mata Vaishno Devi temple.

The historical milestone has been taking shape for decades, and early proposals to build the rail link were on the agenda way back in the 1970s when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was still at the helm of power. The project was approved in 1994 and gained momentum in 2002 after it was cleared for funding by the government under then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

PM Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir also marked his first since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, underscoring a continued focus on security and development in the region.