A TRAIN to the Kashmir valley through the Shivalik and Pir Panjalmountainranges ismore than a century-old ambitious plan thatis setto turn into reality on Friday when Prime MinisterNarendraModiflagsoff aVandeBharattrainfromKatra to Kashmir. Modiwill alsoinaugurate the Chenabbridge,whichwillbethe world’s highest railway arch bridge.“Whatwasonceavision proposedinthe19thcenturyby DogramaharajaPratapSinghis now transforming into one of the most significantinfrastructure achievements in independent India’s history,” a senior railway official said. Vikramaditya Singh, grandsonofMaharajaHariSinghand son of former Sadr-e-Riyasat KaranSingh,saidhefeelsproud thatthe Dogra ruler’s plan conceived over 130 years ago has finally materialised.

“The railway line project to the Kashmir Valley was first envisaged and drawn up duringMaharajaPratapSingh’srule. It is a matter of great pride not only forthe people ofJammu & Kashmirbutfortheentirenation that this dream will be realised by our Prime Minister,” Singh, who has been a legislator in Jammu and Kashmir, told PTI. The Dogra ruler had commissioned British engineers to survey the rugged terrain for a railway route to Kashmir, an ambitiousprojectthatremained unrealised for over a century. He appointed three British engineers to prepare and execute detailed reports.However, two of the three reports prepared in 11 years between 1898 and 1909 were rejected.

According to special documents from the Jammu and Kashmir archives department, the idea of a rail link toKashmir was first proposed on March 1, 1892 by the Maharaja. Subsequently, in June 1898, British engineering firm S R Scott Stratten and Co was engagedtoconductsurveysand execute the project. Thefirstreport, submittedby D A Adam, recommended an electricrailwaybetweenJammu and Kashmirregions, featuring steamlocomotivesonanarrow two-feet-six-inch gauge line. This proposal was rejected due tothechallengingelevationlevels.

Another proposal, submitted in 1902 by W J Weightman, suggested a railway line connecting Kashmir from Abbottabad (now in Pakistan) alongtheJhelumriver.This,too, was turned down. The third proposal, by Wild Blood,recommendeda railway alignmentalongtheChenabriver through the Reasi area. This report was approved. Later,plansforpoweringelectrictrainsandestablishingpower stations near Udhampur, Ramsu, and Banihal were also examinedbutultimatelyrejected. Following this, British engineer Col D E Bourel was tasked with submitting a detailed report on local coal reserves. Additionally, a report was commissioned fromT D LaTouche, thethendeputysuperintendent oftheGeologicalSurveyofIndia, on the Sangarmarg and Mehowgala coal mines. In December 1923, S R Scott StrattenandCowas re-engaged to implement the coal extractionproject.However,thedeath ofMaharajaPratapSinghin1925 and the growing Indian independence movementled to the project being shelved permanently, the documents said. The idea was revived nearly sixdecades later,whenthethen Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the Jammu-UdhampurSrinagarrailway line in1983.At the time, the project was estimated to cost Rs 50 crore and was expected to be completed in five years, officials said. However, in 13 years, only 11 km of the line could be constructed, which comprised 19 tunnelsand11bridges-atacost of Rs 300 crore, they said. It was followed by the broaderUdhampur-Katra-Baramulla railwayproject, estimatedatRs 2,500 crore,whichsawits foundation stones laid by Prime MinistersHDDeveGowda and I K Gujral in 1996 and 1997 at Udhampur, Qazigund, and Baramulla. Construction began in 1997 but faced repeated delays due to challenging geological, topographical, and weather conditions, significantly inflating the cost to over Rs 43,800 crore as of now. Recognising the strategic importance of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL), it was declared a national project in 2002, the officials said.