{"id":15871,"date":"2025-04-21T08:49:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T08:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/current-affairs\/?p=15871"},"modified":"2025-04-22T11:45:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T11:45:59","slug":"pir-panjal-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/current-affairs\/pir-panjal-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Pir Panjal Tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Completion:<\/strong> Katra-Sangaldan section completion ensures year-round, faster rail access to Kashmir Valley.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (Banihal Railway Tunnel):<\/strong> India&#8217;s longest transportation railway tunnel at 11.2 km, part of USBRL.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Connectivity:<\/strong> Connects Quazigund (Kashmir Valley) with Banihal (Jammu) under the Pir Panjal range.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Strategic Importance:<\/strong> Only broad-gauge mountain railway tunnel in India, vital for USBRL&#8217;s core segment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Historical Context:<\/strong> Maharaja Pratap Singh proposed a rail link to the Kashmir Valley in 1898 but multiple routes were suggested but were not materialized over years.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Early Hurdles:<\/strong> Proposed routes faced challenges like high altitude, operational difficulties, and enormous costs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Incremental Progress:<\/strong> Efforts continued post-independence, with the extension of rail lines and surveys.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>National Project:<\/strong> Declared a &#8220;national project&#8221; by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002, emphasizing its importance.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Milestones:<\/strong> Gradual opening of sections from Anantnag to Baramulla, Qazigund to Anantnag, and Udhampur-Katra.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Sangaldan-Banihal Section:<\/strong> Commissioned in February 2024, completing the USBRL.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><strong>Significance:<\/strong> Connects the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country, reduces travel time between Jammu and Srinagar, and eliminates road travel disruptions due to weather.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Completion: Katra-Sangaldan section completion ensures year-round, faster rail access to Kashmir Valley. Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (Banihal Railway Tunnel): India&#8217;s longest transportation railway tunnel at 11.2 km, part of USBRL. Connectivity: Connects Quazigund (Kashmir Valley) with Banihal (Jammu) under the Pir Panjal range. Strategic Importance: Only broad-gauge mountain railway tunnel in &#8230; <a title=\"Pir Panjal Tunnel\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/current-affairs\/pir-panjal-tunnel\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Pir Panjal Tunnel\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[595],"tags":[1281],"class_list":["post-15871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-20-04-25"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.2 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pir Panjal Tunnel - Current Affairs Exam<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/current-affairs\/pir-panjal-tunnel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pir Panjal Tunnel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Completion: Katra-Sangaldan section completion ensures year-round, faster rail access to Kashmir Valley. Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (Banihal Railway Tunnel): India&#8217;s longest transportation railway tunnel at 11.2 km, part of USBRL. Connectivity: Connects Quazigund (Kashmir Valley) with Banihal (Jammu) under the Pir Panjal range. Strategic Importance: Only broad-gauge mountain railway tunnel in ... 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Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel (Banihal Railway Tunnel): India&#8217;s longest transportation railway tunnel at 11.2 km, part of USBRL. Connectivity: Connects Quazigund (Kashmir Valley) with Banihal (Jammu) under the Pir Panjal range. Strategic Importance: Only broad-gauge mountain railway tunnel in ... 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