New Delhi, June 6 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the world's highest railway arch bridge 'Chenab Bridge' during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir. This is the Prime Minister's first visit to the Union Territory after the Pahalgam terror attack and the Indian Army's counter-offensive under Operation Sindoor. 
Mr. Modi flagged off the first Delhi-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express. This is the first train to connect the Valley with the rest of the country. Tight security arrangements have been made in Katra as a precautionary measure ahead of the Prime Minister's visit.
Built at an altitude of 359 meters (1,178 feet) over the Chenab River, this bridge is 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The arch bridge built between Bakkal and Kauri in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district is 1,178 feet above the riverbed, providing a vital link from Katra to Banihal. 
It is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL), a Rs 35,000 crore dream project. The bridge has passed all the mandatory tests. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have got the bridge after a wait of two decades. The project was sanctioned in 2003 but the project started with delay due to stability and safety concerns. 
The contract for the construction of the railway bridge was awarded in 2008. The tests conducted to check the stability and safety of the bridge include high-velocity wind tests, peak temperature tests, earthquake-prone tests and hydrological effects due to rising water levels. Once inaugurated, the bridge will be able to withstand winds of up to 260 kmph and will have a lifespan of 120 years.
The first passenger train will run through this bridge from Delhi and reach Srinagar, the base of the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage, via Katra. Although the idea of ??connecting the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country by rail was floated during the tenure of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, the project was officially approved in a cabinet meeting chaired by her successor P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1994. Work on the railway link began in earnest in 2002, when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government sanctioned funds for land acquisition for the project.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he had been hearing about the Kashmir-bound train since his school days. "There is nothing wrong in saying that I was waiting for this day for a long time," Abdullah told reporters at Katra railway station. 
"This project was started when I was in school, probably in class 7 or 8. Today, my children have also completed their studies and are now working," he told reporters at Katra railway station. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) is one of the most important railway projects undertaken in independent India, a release issued by the PIB said. 
It said that the 272-km-long Himalayas, the project has been built at a cost of Rs 43,780 crore. The project includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges spanning 119 km, connecting valleys, hills and mountain passes.