Why in News?

• According to the Union Railway Ministry, a Vande Bharat Express will run between Jammu and Kashmir soon as the work on the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) is completed.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About the Vande Bharat Express
• The Vande Bharat Express in Jammu and Kashmir (History, Challenges, Safety and Security, Benefits) 

About the Vande Bharat Express:

• Formerly known as Train 18, it is an electric multiple-unit, low cost, semi-high speed train designed by Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF, Chennai) and operated by Indian Railways.
• The train has achieved a maximum speed of 180 km/h (110 mph) and went into service on 15 February 2019 (New Delhi- Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi route).
  • The latest (12 April, 2023) and 15th Vande Bharat Express train will ply between Jaipur and Delhi Cantt railway station.
• It was made with low-cost maintenance and operational optimisation in mind.
• 

 The Vande Bharat Express in Jammu and Kashmir:

History of the project:

• The first railway line in the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was built by the British in 1897 over a distance of 40-45 km between Jammu and Sialkot in the plains.
• After Partition, Sialkot went to Pakistan, and Jammu was disconnected from the rail network of India.
• Until the inauguration of the Pathankot-Jammu line in 1975, the railway station nearest to Jammu and Kashmir was Pathankot in Punjab.
• In 1983, work began on a railway line between Jammu and Udhampur. The project was completed in 2004 and has 20 major tunnels, and 158 bridges.
• With work underway on the Jammu-Udhampur line, the government approved (1995) the extension of the line from Udhampur to Srinagar, and then Baramulla - USBRL project.
• The project was declared (2002) as a national project on account of its being among the most challenging works undertaken by the Indian Railways after Independence.

 Challenges and innovations:

• The Himalayas are young and the geologically unstable Shivalik Hills and Pir Panjal mountains lie in the seismically most active Zones IV and V.
• The terrain, which sees heavy snow in winter, presents serious challenges in the construction of bridges and tunnels.
• In view of the challenges in the construction, engineers of the Railways devised a novel Himalayan Tunneling Method (HTM).
• Under this, horseshoe-shaped tunnels were constructed instead of the usual D-shaped ones.
• The site comes down in a curve giving strength to the structure where the soil above it is loose.
• The broad-gauge railway line will have 5-1% ruling gradient, avoiding the need for bank engines in a mountainous region.
• The trains will be powered by diesel locomotives for now, but there is a provision for electrification in the future.
• Trains can run at speeds up to 100 km/h for the entire length of the journey.

 Safety and security:

• All the major bridges, tunnels, and railway stations will be illuminated and have CCTV
• The track and tunnels have been designed to require as little maintenance as possible.

 Development benefits:

• It will bring down the travel time between Srinagar and Jammu to between three and three-and-a-half hours from the five to six hours that it takes by road currently.
• It will provide a reliable and cost-effective all-weather alternative to the Jammu-Srinagar national highway that is frequently shut down by landslides.
• It will facilitate hassle-free transport of goods such as apples, dry fruits, pashmina shawls, handicrafts etc., to other parts of the country in the shortest possible time and at lesser cost.
• Four cargo terminals will be built between Banihal and Baramulla, land has been identified for three of these terminals.