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ArticleVerified 2026-10-21
Chenab Rail Bridge — take away a pier and the train still runs
The Chenab Rail Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir stands 359 m above the river. Railways says it stays open at 30 km/h even if one pier or trestle is removed.
In Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, the railway to the Kashmir valley crosses the gorge of the Chenab on a steel arch. Its deck stands 359 m above the river bed, the highest railway bridge in the world. But the most surprising fact about it is not its height. Indian Railways says that if one of its piers were taken away, the bridge would not fall, and trains would still run across it.
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What Railways says
When the arch was closed in April 2021, the Ministry of Railways listed the bridge's design features. One of them reads, in its own words, that the bridge "will remain operational at restricted speed of 30 Km/Hour even after removal of one pier/trestle".
So the bridge was built with spare strength: lose one support and it does not come down. Trains would have to slow to 30 km/h, but the line would stay open.
The bridge in numbers
All from the Railways' release unless marked:
- 1,315 m long, in 17 spans.
- The main arch spans 467 m across the gorge.
- 359 m from the river bed to the deck.
- Designed for trains at 100 km/h, for winds of up to 266 km/h, and for the earthquake forces of seismic zone V, the highest in India.
- A designed life of 120 years.
It stands between Kauri and Bakkal on the Jammu–Baramulla line, about 23 km north of Katra (Wikipedia).
Photos: bhisham pratap padha from Jammu, India (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Ojhayogesh (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Two decades in the making
Tenders for the bridge went out in 2003. The pictures here show the build: the first piers and a cable-crane tower on the Kauri side in 2013, and the arch going up in 2016. The arch was joined in the middle in April 2021, the bridge was finished in August 2022, and trial runs began in June 2024. On 6 June 2025 it opened for regular trains, on the line between Katra and Srinagar.
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Questions people ask
How high is the Chenab Rail Bridge?
Its deck stands 359 m above the river bed, which makes it the highest railway bridge in the world, according to Indian Railways and Wikipedia. It is 1,315 m long in 17 spans, and its main arch spans 467 m across the gorge of the Chenab in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
What happens if a pier of the Chenab Bridge is removed?
Indian Railways says the bridge will remain operational at a restricted speed of 30 km/h even after the removal of one pier or trestle. In other words, it was designed with spare strength, so losing one support does not bring it down; trains slow down, but they can still cross.
When did trains start running on the Chenab Rail Bridge?
Regular trains began crossing it on 6 June 2025, between Katra and Srinagar. The arch had been closed in April 2021, the bridge was completed in August 2022, and trial runs began in June 2024, by Wikipedia's account. It carries the line that links the Kashmir valley to the rest of India's railways.
What else was the bridge designed for?
By the Railways' own figures: a design speed of 100 km/h, winds of up to 266 km/h, and the earthquake forces of seismic zone V, the highest intensity zone in India. Its designed life is 120 years, and its steel was chosen for temperatures from minus ten to forty degrees.