Jun 04, 2025 03:16 PM IST
Modi will also inaugurate Anji bridge, India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, besides launching multiple development projects worth over ₹46,000 crore at Katra.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday inaugurate the Chenab bridge, the world’s highest railway arch bridge, and flag off Vande Bharat trains between Katra and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Prime Minister will inaugurate the Chenab bridge and visit the bridge deck at 11am on Friday. Thereafter, he will visit and inaugurate the Anji bridge. He will flag off Vande Bharat trains around noon. Thereafter, he will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects worth over ₹46,000 crore at Katra,” said an official statement issued in Jammu.
The Chenab bridge is an architectural marvel at a height of 359 metres above the river. It is a 1,315-metre-long steel arch bridge engineered to withstand seismic and wind conditions. A key impact of the bridge will be in enhancing connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar. Through Vande Bharat train moving on the bridge, it will take just about 3 hours to travel between Katra and Srinagar, reducing existing travel time by three hours.
The Anji bridge is India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge that will serve the nation in a challenging terrain, it added.
Among the other projects to be launched is the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project. Constructed at a cost of around ₹43,780 crore, it includes 36 tunnels (spanning 119 km) and 943 bridges. The project establishes all-weather, seamless rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration.
In a boost to last mile connectivity in border areas, Modi will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate road projects. He will lay the foundation stone of a road-widening project from Rafiabad to Kupwara on National Highway-701 and the construction of Shopian bypass road on NH-444 worth over ₹1,952 crore. He will inaugurate two flyover projects at Sangrama Junction on National Highway-1 in Srinagar and at Bemina Junction on National Highway-44. These projects will ease traffic congestion.
The PM will also lay the foundation stone of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra worth over ₹350 crore. It will be the first medical college in Reasi district, it said.
