Successful MEMU train trial run conducted between Sangaldan, Reasi across Chenab bridge

Ramban, June 20: The first trial run of Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train run was successfully conducted on Thursday between Sangaldan and Reasi across Chenab bridge.

The run of MEMU train, a train with eight coaches, was conducted on a newly constructed electrified rail line section of Sangaldan -Reasi with a route length of 46 Km, of the USBRL project at a speed of 40 km.

Official sources said the Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train passed through nine tunnels with a combined length of 40,787 km. They said the longest rail tunnel, T-44, has a length of 11.31, Kms,

The first-ever train crossed the iconic Bridge between Dugga and Bakkal stations across the Chenab River, in Reasi which is the world’s highest railway bridge with a central span of 467 meters at a staggering height of 359 meters.

Railway authorities said the Reasi, Bakkal, Dugga and Sawalkote railway stations are situated in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. They claimed that the Railway Electrification work on this section has been executed with state-of-the-art technology, ROCS (Rigid Overhead Conductor System) at 25 kV, for the first time on Indian Railways.

Earlier in February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 48,1 km Banihal-Sangaldan section of the USBRL Rail Link and flagged off the first electric train in Kashmir valley. Rail service will likely extend up to Reasi from Baramulla by the end of June.

The work on the Udhampur Srinagar Rail Link project will be completed by or before the end of 2024. Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on X, “Successful run of the MEMU train between the Sangaldan and Reasi section of the USBRL Project in Jammu.”