Kashmir finds itself on the cusp of a historic moment as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the Baramulla (Kashmir)-Udhampur (Jammu) rail link on Friday, part of which is the Chenab bridge, the world’s highest railway arch bridge.

The rail project, conceived 130 years ago, proposes to link Kashmir with the rest of the country by rail. Also part of the project is the Anji bridge, India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge.

There is, however, no clarity on whether Kashmir will get a “direct” rail link in the strict sense of the term, with some reports claiming that passengers will be required to switch trains at Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu.

An official release from the Press Information Bureau on Wednesday fueled more speculation as its focus was on the inauguration of the Chenab and Anji bridges, which, though important milestones, pale in comparison to the over-century-old dream of connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country by train.

The inauguration was initially planned early this year but was delayed due to unspecified reasons, with the weeks of tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack only prolonging the wait.

A spokesman said the Prime Minister would inaugurate the Chenab bridge and then the Anji bridge before flagging off two Vande Bharat trains. “Thereafter, he will lay foundation stones of and inaugurate and dedicate to the nation multiple development projects worth over ₹46,000 crore at Katra,” he said.

The spokesman called the Chenab bridge an architectural marvel, situated at a height of 359 metres above the river. “It is a 1,315-metre-long steel arch bridge engineered to withstand seismic and wind conditions. A key impact of the bridge will be in enhancing connectivity between Jammu and Srinagar. The Vande Bharat trains will take just about three hours to travel between Katra and Srinagar, reducing existing travel time by two-three hours,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the Prime Minister would “also” dedicate the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project to the nation, appearing to downplay the main event.

“The 272km long USBRL project, constructed at a cost of ₹43,780 crore, includes 36 tunnels (spanning 119km) and 943 bridges. The project establishes all-weather, seamless rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of the country, aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration,” a statement said.

The two Vande Bharat trains will travel both ways between the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra and Srinagar.

The project to connect Kashmir through rail was first proposed by Dogra ruler Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1898. A preliminary survey was done but the project was shelved due to the huge cost involved.

Over the years, train tracks were laid till Udhampur from Jammu city 65km away. Although this was completed in 1983, there was no real progress until then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared it a national project in 2011 and set a completion deadline of 2007. The project has missed multiple deadlines since then.

The railways had been working on both sides of the Pir Panjal, which divides Kashmir and Jammu. The work on the 118km QazigundBaramulla section within the Valley was completed in three phases during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure. The 18km section from Qazigund in Kashmir to Banihal in Jammu was inaugurated by Singh in 2013.

Modi opened the 25km Udhampur-Katra stretch in 2014. In February last year, he inaugurated the 48km Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in Jammu, which included the country’s longest railway tunnel spanning 12.77km