Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened one of the country's most ambitious railway projects that will connect the Kashmir valley to India's vast plains by train for the first time.
The government-run Indian Railway is known as one of the most challenging tracks in the world, and the 272-km (169 miles) line starts from Udhampur, the garrison city of Chamu, and runs through Slinagal, the main Kashmir city of Indian-Kashmir. The line ends in Baramulla, a small town with a high line of military control that separates the Himalayan region between India and Pakistan.
The Indian government set the total project cost at about $5 billion.
The railway line passes through 36 tunnels and more than 943 bridges and will help humans and cargo and troops to act, which was only possible before only through sinister mountain roads and in the air.
One of the highlights of the project is the 1,315-meter-long (4,314-foot) steel and concrete bridge above the Chenab River, connecting the two mountains to 359-meters (1,177-foot) surface. The Indian Railway compared its height to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, which is 330 meters (1,082 feet) and said the bridge was built for 120 years and continued extreme weather, including wind speeds up to 260 km/h (161mph).
Modi visited the Chenab Bridge on Friday with strict security, waving the Indian tricolor flag before boarding a test train passing picturesque mountains and tunnels to the inauguration of another high-altitude bridge called Anji.
Modi said the railway “ensures all weather connections” and will “promote spiritual tourism and create livelihood opportunities.”
The Prime Minister also helped launch a pair of new trains called "Vande Bharat", which will cut the travel time between Srinagar and Katra towns in Jammu district from the usual six to seven hours.
Modi visited India-controlled Kashmir on Friday since the military clash between India and Pakistan, which he brought rivals to the brink of war last month when the countries opened fire and drones to each other.
The conflict came after a shooting in late April that killed 26 men, mainly Indian tourists, in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India accused Pakistan of supporting the attackers, an allegation denied by Islamabad.
India and Pakistan each manage part of Kashmir, but both claim the entire territory.
Armed groups in Kashmir's Indian control section have been fighting the rule of New Delhi since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory under Pakistani rule or independent states.
India insists that the Kashmir armed groups are backed by Pakistan, which Islamabad denies.