The tallest railway bridge in the world has been completed

India has added another superlative to its sheer size: the tallest railway bridge in the world. As the Indian Ministry of Railways explained in a press release, the Chenab Bridge over the river of the same name was completed after nearly two decades of construction.

However, commuters and tourists will have to wait a while before they can actually travel by train across the bridge planned by a Finnish company in the Jammu-Kashmir region. By the end of 2023, the necessary infrastructure must be ready to connect the enormous steel structure to the train service.

Those who dare to drive then thunder over the valley at an altitude of 359 meters (measured from the river bed). The steel arch construction is 29 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Want another comparison? The Berlin TV Tower is 368 meters high including the antenna mast and the viewing platform is 270 meters high. The idea of ​​traveling another 90 meters higher in a train is impressive.

The Chenab Bridge is a total of 1315 meters long and is part of a major project to open up the Kashmir valley via the Indian railway network. Thus, the only land route connecting the Indian-controlled parts of Kashmir to the rest of the country was the 300-kilometer winding national road between Srinagar and Jammu. In winter, this route is regularly closed due to accidents, reports the American TV channel CNN. Experts believe that the weather-independent train connection will now boost industry and agriculture in the region.