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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 90
ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026
EXTENSION OF BARAMULLA RAILWAY LINE
*90 SHRI CHOWDRY MOHAMMAD RAMZAN:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
whether Government proposes to extend the Baramulla railway line up to Kupwara and
further to Karnah, to improve connectivity, strengthen the border economy and promote
overall development of this far-flung region?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
*****STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO STARRED QUESTION NO.90 BY SHRI
CHOWDRY MOHAMMAD RAMZAN ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 06.02.2026
REGARDING EXTENSION OF BARAMULLA RAILWAY LINE
To extend the rail connectivity of existing Srinagar – Baramulla section, a survey for Sopore
to Kupwara (34 km) New Line has been sanctioned and the Detailed Project Report (DPR)
has been prepared. However, the project has been dropped because it was found to be
infeasible.
To further improve rail connectivity, in the Border region, the Detailed Project Reports
(DPRs) of following projects have also been prepared:
Qazigund – Srinagar – Budgam doubling (118 km)
Baramulla to Uri new line (40 km)
After preparation of DPR, sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-
holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog,
Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact
timelines cannot be fixed.
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of total length 272 Km has been
recently commissioned. USBRL project covers the districts of Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban,
Srinagar, Anantnag, Pulwama, Budgam and Baramulla of Jammu and Kashmir.
The USBRL project has made substantial socio-economic contributions to the region, with
employment generation being a significant aspect of its impact. The project has generated
more than 5 Cr. man-days of employment.
Another crucial facet of the USBRL Project’s socio-economic development efforts has been
the construction of over 215 km of approach roads, which include construction of a tunnel and
320 small bridges. This road network has helped the local population in improvement of their
connectivity with other areas and also improvement in socio-economic states.
With the all-weather, reliable and comfortable rail connectivity of valley portion with rest of
the Indian Railway network, tourism will get a big boost.
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