Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the nation's longest railway tunnel on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) during his visit on Monday. The event also marked the commencement of operations for the first electrified trains in the Kashmir valley.
Prime Minister Modi was present in Jammu and he virtually flagged off two electrified trains simultaneously one from Srinagar to Sangaldan in the down direction and the other from Sangaldan to Srinagar in the up direction, a railway official said.
The official further mentioned that Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the 48.1-km-long Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section. This newly inaugurated segment features the longest tunnel in the route, measuring 12.77 km in length, referred to as T-50, located within the Khari-Sumber section. According to the Northern Railway (NR), trains are now able to operate from Baramulla to Sangaldan via Banihal, marking a significant extension compared to the previous terminal station arrangement.
T-50 is regarded as the most formidable among the 11 tunnels within the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section, as stated by railway officials involved in the project. The construction of the tunnel commenced around 2010, and it took nearly 14 years to make it operational. Stringent safety protocols have been implemented within the tunnel to address potential emergency scenarios. An official emphasized that an escape tunnel has been constructed alongside T-50 to facilitate the evacuation of passengers in case of any unforeseen emergencies.
At every 375 metres, a connecting passage between the escape tunnel and T-50 has been made so that the passengers can be brought to the escape tunnel and then, carried to their desired destinations in vehicles, he added. The official told PTI that in order to tackle a fire incident, water pipes have been laid on both sides of the tunnel with an opening valve provided at every 375 metres so that water can be sprayed on a train from both sides to douse the flames.
Earlier, eight diesel trains (four each from one side) were operating between Baramulla and Banihal. Today, Prime Minister Modi not only inaugurated the extension of the Banihal route to Sangaldan via Khari and Samber, but also flagged off the first electrified trains on the whole route from Baramulla to Sangaldan, the official said.