A substantial hurdle, which was delaying work in the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, was overcome after the Indian Railways achieved a breakthrough in a three kilometre-long tunnel in the Jammu section of the project on Wednesday.
The big ticket project is slated to be inaugurated before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and will enable the running of passenger trains between Jammu and Kashmir. Currently, the Indian Railways runs a Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Katra in Jammu.
Officials working in the USBRL project told The Hindu that drilling through the three kilometre-long first tunnel was extremely difficult because of the sensitive young Himalayan terrain. “There was tremendous amount of water leakage and we had to tunnel through the water flow. With exuding water, rocks become softer and we have to drill through while stabilising the loose rock material,” officials said.
