RAMBAN: Commissioner of Railways Safety (CRS), Dinesh Chand Deshwal on Wednesday conducted the second round of the statutory inspection of the recently completed 14.869 km track between Banihal and Khari section along the much talked Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL). The Khari Railway Station in this district of J&K falls between Banihal and Katra on the remaining 111 km stretch of the USBRL project, which on completion will connect Kashmir with rest of India by rail-link in coming months. On December 6 last year, the Northern Railways successfully conducted the first trial run of an electric train from Banihal Railway Station to Khari Railway Station bringing cheer on the faces of the locals residing in the remote mountainous and scenic region. Sources said that the second round of statutory inspection by CRS Deshwal for the opening of Banihal-Khari track brightened the chances for commission of this section to link Khari with Kashmir valley by train. During inspection, the Chief Administrative Officer of USBRL, the construction officers and other concerned officials accompanied the CRS, who first led trolley inspection of the track from Banihal to Khari and later returned from Khari to Banihal by a special train. The CRS along with his team inspected tunnels, viaducts etc at Railway Station Khari and other infrastructures. A trial run with high-speed train comprising five bogies was also conducted from Banihal-Khari (to and fro) on the newly laid track in the late afternoon. Sources informed that the train schedule will be released after submission of the report by CRS. The track between Banihal and Khari passes mostly through tunnels and has four minor and major bridges as well. Talking to reporters at Banihal, CRS Deshwal said the infrastructure is ready for commissioning and the inspection was imperative before extending the train service to Khari. “This (inspection) is a process and we are completing it before starting the train operations after checking the passenger safety. The Government guidelines for testing and commissioning are being completed,” he maintained. It is pertinent to mention here that out of the total 272 km USBRL project, the 161 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase 118-km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009 followed by 18-km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013 and 25-km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014. The work on the project, which is the most challenging railway infrastructure project being undertaken post-independence, was started in 1997 and has missed several deadlines amid huge cost escalations.
