| In a first, Army’s tanks, artillery guns reach Kashmir by train | | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 17: In a landmark development for India’s defence logistics, the Indian Army on Tuesday created history by successfully transporting tanks and artillery guns into the Kashmir Valley through a special military train, exactly three months after moving advance winter stocks by rail.
The specially designated military train carrying heavy weaponry, including tanks and artillery guns, was moved from the Jammu region to Anantnag railway station in south Kashmir, marking the first-ever rail induction of such equipment into the Valley.
Confirming the achievement, the Additional Director General, Public Information (ADG PI) of the Indian Army stated on the official social media handle that the Army achieved a major logistics milestone on December 16, 2025, with the induction of tanks and artillery guns into the Kashmir Valley by a Military Special Train. The movement, carried out as part of a validation exercise, also included dozers and demonstrated enhanced mobility, operational reach, and logistical capability of the armed forces.
The Army further said that the historic exercise was accomplished in close coordination with the Ministry of Railways, highlighting the transformative strategic importance of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project. The rail connectivity, the Army noted, will play a crucial role in enabling rapid logistics build-up and strengthening operational preparedness along the country’s northern borders.
Kashmir’s challenging terrain and its proximity to sensitive borders often result in disruption of surface connectivity during winter months, particularly when the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway remains closed due to snowfall and landslides. Such disruptions also have a cascading impact on supply lines to Ladakh, making reliable all-weather logistics a strategic necessity.
Defence experts view the induction of heavy military equipment by rail as a major strategic game-changer, as it will ensure year-round, secure, and faster movement of troops and heavy arms, significantly reducing dependence on road connectivity and weather conditions.
Notably, this development follows an earlier milestone achieved on September 13, when, for the first time, advance winter supplies for soldiers deployed in remote and high-altitude areas of Kashmir were transported to the Valley via a special freight train. That train had arrived in Anantnag, from where the supplies were further transported by Army vehicles to forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) and other operational areas.
The successive rail-based logistics achievements underline a new chapter in India’s military preparedness and infrastructure-led defence capability in Jammu and Kashmir. |
|
