Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first train from Katra to the Valley on April 19 fulfilling the over 70-year-old dream of rail connectivity to Kashmir.
The train will chug off from Katra town in Reasi district and will cross the Pir Panjal mountain range to reach Srinagar and then its final destination at Baramulla in north Kashmir.
PM Modi will flag off the train from Katra in the presence of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
At present, the train operates from Sangaldan to Baramulla. The Prime Minister is scheduled to land at Udhampur Army airport from New Delhi on the morning of April 19 and then fly to the world’s highest railway bridge over Chenab river in Reasi district.
PM Modi will be briefed about the construction of the bridge, which is considered to be an engineering marvel.
The Prime Minister will then reach the Mata Vaishno Devi base camp, Katra from where he will flag off the Vande Bharat train to the Valley.
PM Modi will address a public rally at Katra before returning to Delhi in the afternoon.
Railway officials said after completion of expansion work at Jammu Railway Station, including increase in the number of platforms, the train to the Valley will start operations from Jammu, expectedly by July-August this year.
“There will be no direct train from Delhi or any other part to Kashmir. The passengers will have to de-board at Katra and change the train. Later, the same process will shift to Jammu”, officials said.
Several trials of the train from Katra to Baramulla including that of Vande Bharat Express have been successful and the security issues have also been addressed.
Out of the total 272 kms of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 kms was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by the 18 km Banihal-Qazigund link in June 2013, 25 kms of the Udhampur-Katra stretch in July 2014 and the 48.1 km Banihal-Sangaldan section in February, last year.
The work on the 46 km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra which was also completed nearly three months ago, leading to the start of different trials of trains, including that of Vande Bharat.
The project involved an expenditure of Rs 41,000 crore.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was conducted on the Katra-Banihal section.
Series of trials over the past few months on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges, have been conducted.
The Vande Bharat Express Train between Katra and Srinagar has been specially designed with anti-freezing features.
Manufactured by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF), this new Vande Bharat train can operate smoothly in extremely cold conditions as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. To ensure comfort for passengers and drivers, the train is equipped with advanced heating systems.
The safety features of the train include CCTV cameras, and Emergency Talk Back Units.
The train has shatterproof windows and the windshield of the driver is equipped with a special anti-frost system that allows a clear field of vision.
The train to Kashmir will give a boost to tourism, horticulture, agriculture, industries, education and to the average Kashmiri, who can now forget his fears about the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway getting closed due to rain and snowfall.
The train will provide an uninterrupted all-weather connectivity and the carriage of goods to and from the Valley will become much cheaper in the coming days.
