Jammu, June 6 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the inaugural Vande Bharat train service from Katra town in Jammu division to Baramulla town in the Valley on June 6.

Vande Bharat train will run every day between the Valley and the Katra town, while the goods train will ply as per the requirements of the season.

An engineering marvel standing at a height of 1,178 feet above the riverbed, the Chenab Railway Bridge surpasses the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris by 35 meters.

Part of the Rs 35,000 crore Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, the Chenab Bridge alone incurred a cost of approximately Rs 14,000 crore, a crown jewel of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link.

The train to Kashmir will realise the dream of connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and India will soon be connected by a rail link end to end.

The project has realised an over 70-year-old dream of connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country by a rail link that will give a large boost to horticulture, agriculture, industry, education, and bring great relief and travel comfort to the common man.

The rail link is a proud emblem of New India’s strength, unity, and ambition! As per the earlier itinerary when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate train services to the Valley from holy town of Katra, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine in Reasi district of Jammu region, on April 19, his schedule now is almost the same for June 6 when he will flag off train to Kashmir.

PM Modi will land at Udhampur Defence airport from New Delhi, from where he will fly to the rail bridge over the river Chenab in Reasi district, which is the highest bridge in the world.

He will inspect the bridge and get a detailed briefing from the Railway officials on its completion under challenging circumstances.

The Prime Minister is expected to spend 20 minutes at the bridge. He will travel by train from the highest rail bridge to Katra and will stop at India’s first cable-stayed bridge over Anji Khad.

At this bridge, he will interact with Railway engineers, workers, etc, who were involved in the construction of bridges over the river Chenab and the first cable-stayed Stayed besides completion of other works on the Katra-Baramulla track.

The Railway workers who were involved in the execution of the project, but have since retired, will also be called to the event for interaction with PM Modi.

The Prime Minister will then travel to Katra and flag off the Vande Bharat train from Katra to Baramulla. Simultaneously, another Vande Bharat train from Baramulla to Katra will be flagged off virtually by him.

PM Modi will address a massive rally at Katra Stadium before returning to New Delhi. This will be the Prime Minister’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after Operation Sindoor.

–IANS

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