K N Pandita
Recently, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced extension of 12 railways from Jammu/ Udhampur to Katra. He said the prime minister was eager see that a network of railways is spread out in J&K.
Taking into view the blue print of such a network, all we can say is that Kashmir will come out of its isolation for the first time ever since the dawn of history when sage Kashyapa successfully prayed for the desiccation of the valley.
345 km (214 miles) long Jammu to Baramulla railway track will be passing through some most inhospitable terrain; it is an extremely challenging engineering project. Begun in 1983, it has been going through chequered history till it was declared National Project in 2002.
On 13 April, 2005, the 33 miles (53 km) long Jammu – Udhampur railway, built at a cost of 5.15 billion rupees in 21 years was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This track has 20 major tunnels, with the longest about 2.5 kms, 158 bridges with the highest bridge in the country over Tawi which is 77 meters (253 feet) high.
In July 2002, Government of India declared J&K Railway a national project which means the project would be completed irrespective of cost consideration which would be borne by the central government. As of today the cost estimate of the entire project touches 60 billion rupees. Had it been left to the Indian Railways, it would have taken them 60 years to bring it to completion.
The 115-year old dream of Maharaja Pratap Singh will hopefully materialize four years from now in 2019. A year after Sialkot-Jammu railway line was opened in 1897 Maharaja Pratap Singh desired to be briefed on laying Jammu-Srinagar rail line. He met with complications created by the British rulers. In 1902, the British proposed rail link between Rawalpindi and Srinagar following the course of Jhelum River. Again politics supervened. However, in A.D. 1905, Maharaja Pratap Singh had approved Jammu – Srinagar link via Reasi through Mughal Road.
The proposal was to have 2 or 2.6 feet gauge railway line, climbing to the Mughal Road pass at 11000 feet (3,353 meter) over the Pir Paschal. It was planned as electric powered train with mountain streams as source of hydro-electric power. However, for the reasons of highly inclement weather conditions and very slow motion of small gauge train, the project was dropped.
In 1983, Prime Minister of India kicked off Jammu-Udhampur connection scheduled to be completed in 5 years at a budgeted cost of 500 million rupees.
While rail journey has become possible from Delhi to Baramulla via Jammu, except the stretch from Katra to Banihal still under construction and expected to be completed by 2019-20, it is not without interest to look at this stupendous project retrospectively.
The Kashmir Railway is perhaps the most difficult new railway line project undertaken on the Indian subcontinent by the Government of India. The terrain passes through the young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. The alignment for the line presents one of the greatest railway engineering challenges ever faced, with the only contest coming from the Qingzang Railway in Tibet that was completed in 2006 and crosses permanently frozen ground and climbs to more than 5,000 m (16,000 ft) above sea level. While the temperatures of the Kashmir Railway area are not as severe as in Tibet, it does still experience extreme winters with heavy snowfalls. However, what makes the route even more complex is the requirement to pass through the Himalayan foothills and the mighty Pir Panjal range, with most peaks exceeding 15,000 ft (4,600 m) in height.
The route includes many bridges, viaducts and tunnels. The railway is expected to cross a total of over 750 bridges and pass through over 100 km (62 mi) of tunnels, the longest of which is 11.215 km (7 miles) in length. The greatest engineering challenges involve the crossing of the Chenab river, which involves building a 1,315 m (4,314 ft) long bridge 359 m (1,178 ft) above the river bed, and the crossing of the Anji Khad, which involves building a 657 m (2,156 ft) long bridge 186 m (610 ft) above the river bed. The Chenab Bridge will be the highest railway structure of its kind in the world, 35 m higher than the tip of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Both bridges are to be simple span bridges.
Weathering steel is planned to be used to provide an environment friendly appearance and eliminate the need to paint the bridge. The design and structure is very similar to the New River Gorge Bridge. The project is being managed by the Konkan Railway Corporation. Completion is scheduled for 2019-20 requiring the use of 26,000 tons of steel.
All tunnels including the Banihal Tunnel will be constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling method. Numerous challenges have been encountered while tunneling through the geologically young and unstable Shivalik Mountains. In particular water ingress problems have been seen in the Udhampur to Katra section. This has required some drastic solutions using steel arches and several feet of shortcrete.
Even though the line is being built through a mountainous region, a ruling gradient of 1% has been set to provide a safe, smooth and reliable journey. More importantly bankers will not be required, making the journey quicker and smoother. It will be built to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Indian broad gauge laid on concrete sleepers with continuous welded rail and with a minimum curve radius of 676 m. Maximum line speed will be 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph). Provision for future doubling will be made on the major bridges. Additionally provisions for future electrification will be made, though the line will be operated with diesel locomotives initially, as Kashmir is an electricity scarce region at present. There will be 30 stations on the full route, served by 10-12 trains per day initially.
Passenger services will be provided by the new aerodynamic High Power diesel multiple units, which have certain special features incorporated into them. The air-conditioned coaches have wide windows for a panoramic view, anti-skid flooring, sliding doorways, heating facilities, an attractive colour scheme and executive class reclining seats inside. The driver’s cabin has a heating and defogging unit to take care of cold climatic conditions and is fitted with single lookout glass windows to give a wider view. A snow-cutting type cattle guard has been attached at the driving end of the train for clearing snow from the tracks during winter. In view of the peculiar climate of the valley, the 1,400-horsepower diesel engine for the train has been provided with a heating system for a quick and trouble-free start in the winters. A public information system with display and announcement facilities is included in the coaches which have pneumatic suspension for better riding comfort. There is also a compartment for physically challenged people with wider doors.
This, however, is not the end of the story. In second phase, internal railway expansion will be of connecting Jammu with Poonch, Baramulla with Lolab and Srinagar with Leh. In due course of time and with fast expansion of Srinagar and Jammu capital cities, both of them will provided with metros to do away with serious bottlenecks in city traffic. Of course this is a long range plan but nevertheless it is very much in the sight of policy planners. Economy of the State is now set to take big strides with fairly expanded connectivity.
In a broader view, the entire Himalayan and Karakorum foothill ranges are getting exposed to immensely increasing human activity. In Gilgit and Baltistan, China is investing about forty billion dollars for infrastructural development and creating the eco-corridor between Xinjiang and Gawadar sea port. India is taking the railway to her border in Ladakh and to Poonch, thus covering the two vulnerable borders with China and Pakistan. In a prospect of China and India cooperating in eco-strategy in the Himalayan-Karakorum region, both countries may join hands to extend J&K railway from Baramulla to Mansehra, now in Khyberpakhtunkhwa, the town likely to be on the proposed railway link along KKH to Abbotabad and then onwards to its final destination in Gawadar.
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