RailEnquiry

Katra : After the Union Cabinet sanctioned Rs 19,000 crore in January this year for the Udhampur-Baramulla section of the ambitious Katra-Qazigund railway project designed to link the rest of the country with the Kashmir valley, the work on the line restarted recently and is scheduled to complete in 2017.The work has brought cheer to thousands associated with the project as they have been re-employed. The Udhampur-Qazigund rail line project was announced 17 years ago in 1995 and there have been cost overruns since then. The delay in completing the project has led to cost escalation, necessitating sanction of more money.The work on the 119-km Qazigund-Baramulla section was completed in 2009, while the work on the Udhampur-Katra section (25 km) has been delayed and is likely to be completed in 2013. The Katra-Qazigund section (148 km) will be completed by 2017, whereas the Jammu-Udhampur section (54 km) is already operational.The project, which was declared a National Project in 2002, is likely to give a major boost to the economy of the state. Difficult terrain and topography have posed technological challenges to Konkan Railway and IRCON, which are involved in the construction of rail line in these mountainous ranges. Although the project was initially scheduled to be completed by 2007, complications related to construction pushed back the schedule to 2017. The excavation work on the 11-km tunnel, the longest in the country, through the Pir Panjal range was over in October  last year.