New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Chenab railway bridge, the tallest rail bridge in the world. PM Modi also flagged off two Vande Bharat Express trains between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and Srinagar. Later in the day, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge at Anji.
PM Modi took an aerial route to the Chenab bridge site, where he inaugurated the one-of-its-kind rail bridge. This is PM Modi’s first visit to Kashmir since Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory military operation following the Pahalgam terror attack in April that left 26 dead.
With the Tiranga held high, Prime Minister @narendramodi Ji inaugurated the iconic Chenab Bridge — the world’s highest railway arch bridge, a marvel of modern engineering and a symbol of a rising, resilient India. 🇮🇳 #KashmirOnTrack #ChenabBridge pic.twitter.com/0Sy3Ggtgr5
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) June 6, 2025
The 1,315-metre-long Chenab bridge, towering at a height of 359 metres above the riverbed, is an architectural feat. On Friday, as the train whistles into Srinagar for the first time, it will not just be steel on tracks. It will be the sound of history moving forward, a signal that Kashmir is now physically and symbolically connected to the rest of the country like never before. For a region long accustomed to closed roads and disconnectedness, the arrival of a train carries hope. After 127 years, what began as a royal vision will finally arrive with the force of a nation behind it.
Fast-forward nearly a century. In 1994, the Government of India revived the plan under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, laying out a modern, broad-gauge railway to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country. By 2002, the project was declared a “National Project” by the Vajpayee-led NDA government, ensuring central funding and top priority.