On June 6, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the world’s tallest railway bridge—the Chenab Railway Bridge—an extraordinary feat of engineering perched 359 meters above the Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi district, towering even above the Eiffel Tower. Spanning 1,315 meters in length with a main arch span of 467 meters, this arch bridge is constructed from steel and concrete to withstand the harshest conditions, including wind speeds of up to 260 km/h and earthquakes in Zone V. Designed with blast-resistant technology given its strategic location, the bridge’s robust resilience is matched by its elegance.
Over 584,000 kilometers of advanced robotic welding and 30,000+ metric tons of steel went into its making, earning it global acclaim and putting it under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage recognition. The structure, executed by Afcons Infrastructure under Konkan Railway Corporation Limited, has been hailed as a “symbol of engineering excellence” and a game-changer for connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.
Alongside the Chenab marvel, PM Modi also inaugurated several other transformative railway projects in the region. These include the Anji Khad Bridge, India’s first single-pylon cable-stayed railway bridge with a height of 331 meters and supported by 96 cables, and the Katra–Srinagar Vande Bharat Express, which will slash travel time to just three hours, operating in sub-zero temperatures and facilitating easier access to the sacred shrine of Vaishno Devi. These milestones form part of the ambitious Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project—a ₹43,780 crore effort decades in the making, now completed with 36 tunnels and 943 bridges across 272 kilometers.
