First cable stayed rail bridgeThe Anji Khad Bridge is India’s first cable stayed railway bridge. About 331 metres above the riverbed and stretching 725 metres across, Anji Bridge is anchored by 96 high tensile cables. At its heart stands an inverted Y shaped pylon that climbs 193 metres above its foundation. The total length of cable strand used in the bridge is 653 kilometres.Over 8,200 metric tonnes of structural steel have gone into its construction, ensuring strength and durability. It has been built to endure tremors, strong winds and shifting geology.T-50 tunnelTunnel T50, measuring 12.77 kilometres, connects Khari and Sumber in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the longest transportation tunnel in the country and the longest one built under the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.The tunnel has become a key link in ensuring uninterrupted rail connectivity between the Kashmir Valley and the rest of India.Constructed using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method, the tunnel passes through complex and varied geology including quartzite, gneiss and phyllite. The route faced major construction hurdles such as high-water ingress, landslides, shear zones and jointed volcanic rock formations.To meet these challenges, engineers built three adits (access tunnels) that allowed work to begin from multiple faces at once, which helped accelerate the construction timeline. The design includes a main tunnel and a parallel escape tunnel, connected through cross-passages every 375 metres to ensure safety.Tunnel T50 is fully equipped with CCTV cameras installed every 50 metres. All feeds are monitored from a central control room to support safety and smooth operations. In addition, Indian Railways constructed 215 kilometres of approach roads to provide access to project sites, improving transport and connectivity for nearby communities.
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