Jammu: 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.
