Srinagar, June 6 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated two of India's most ambitious engineering feats - the world's highest railway arch bridge over the Chenab River and the country's first cable-stayed rail bridge over Anji Khad - marking a historic moment in the journey to integrate the Kashmir Valley into India's national rail network.

The back-to-back inaugurations were part of the formal launch of the long-awaited Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, now finally complete after decades of engineering challenges and political delays.

Calling the Chenab Bridge an "architectural marvel," the Prime Minister's Office said the 1,315-metre-long steel arch structure rises 359 metres above the riverbed - ta...