As work on India’s most challenging railway track—the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla link—picks up steam, photographer Praveen Khanna travels on a train from Jammu to Udhampur, the section that became functional three years ago and brought the region into the national mainstream
YOU don’t have to be an engineer to see why this track is such a marvel. It weaves its way meticulously through the Shivalik range bypassing all barriers, be they mountains or rivers,” says a frequent traveller on the Jammu-Udhampur line. The journey is picture-postcard perfect. Green mountains and steep valleys creep up on you suddenly as the quaint little train chugs along, stopping at stations you never knew existed. Bajalta, Sangar, Manwal and Ram Nagar, tidy little towns nestled among the hilly Shivalik range.
This was the section that first opened three years ago, connecting Delhi and other regions to Udhampur and soon it will extend and travel further into Katra, Qazigund, Srinagar and Baramulla.
With over 36 major and 122 minor bridges on a track that is a little over 53 km long, the one-and-a-half hour journey from Jammu to Udhampur is a delight.
The track runs through almost 10 km of tunnels, the longest of which is 2.45 km. “To put it in perspective, the 2.5-km tunnel is longer than the Jawahar Tunnel on National Highway No. 1 on the Pir Panjal ranges, which connects the Valley to the rest of the country by road,” explains a Northern Railways official.
Digging the tunnels through the mountains was not easy. “It was a real challenge for railway engineers who had never before dealt with the rather strenuous task of laying tracks on a topography that’s so dynamic in nature,” a railway official says.
Perhaps one of the most breathtaking sights on the entire track is the mesmerising view of the Valley as seen from the Gambhir Bridge, which is 77 metre high—higher even than the Qutub Minar.
“I have been travelling daily on this train for almost two years now yet I never tire of seeing the view from up here,” says a passenger. One glance outside and you know what he means. The train seems to be weaving through the clouds.
