An engineering marvel, from the current decades: a railway line in cashmere

After decades of very complex engineering works and billions of dollars in investment, India has finally connected the Himalayan Cashmere region by rail to the rest of the country.

The link of the train, which was officially inaugurated on Friday, had a dream dating from the British colonial era. Indian officials called it a transformer jump for the region made after overcoming physically and politically treacherous land to build the railway. But many Kashmiris see the project as much an effort to anchor control of the central government on cashmere.

The official opening of the rail connection had been delayed several times, more recently due to a terrorist attack at the end of April on the side administered by the Kashmir Indians, who triggered days of mortal conflict Between India and Pakistan.

“This shows that our determination is as important as the dream of the development of India,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi after inaugurating the rail line.

The new 170 mile line, known as Link Rail Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla, was built at a cost of around $ 4.4 billion in some of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world. It includes one of the highest railway bridges in the world and a tunnel nearly seven miles long through a mountain range.