Railway services in Kashmir Valley likely to resume from November 11

india

Updated: Nov 06, 2019 20:53 IST

Train services in Kashmir valley, which had been suspended following the Centre’s August 5 move to revoke Article 370 that accorded special status to J&K, are likely to resume from November 11.

A statement issued by the Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday said that Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan has directed railways authorities to conduct track inspection within three days which will be followed by a trial run on November 10 and the resumption of services from November 11.

Hindustan Times had on October 17 reported that train services in the valley will be restored shortly. This also comes weeks after postpaid mobile phone services were restored across all networks in the Valley.

“Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan today asked the Railway authorities to restore the train services in valley from next week. He passed on this direction during the meeting with railway officials, Districts’ Administration and police convened to discuss restoration of railway services in Kashmir,” the statement issued by directorate of information, Jammu and Kashmir said.

Senior railway ministry officials told HT that a team from North Railways’ Ferozepur division will be sent to assess the situation.

“There was a meeting held today between Kashmir Divisional Commissioner and railway officials. A request was made to resume train services. We will take the final call after our team has reviewed the state of the tracks and other parameters,” the official said.

Train services had been operational between Banihal and Baramulla in the Valley since 2013, however services on this line connecting Kashmir to Jammu have been suspended following the Centre’s move in August to scrap Article 370 and 35 A.

The meeting was attended by IGP Kashmir zone, SSP Srinagar, SSP Railways, Additional Commissioner, Kashmir, ADC Srinagar, Chief Controller, Northern Railways, Senior Divisional Mechanical engineer, Northern railways and other senior officials.

The railways will also be deploying its special unit — Commando for Railway Security (CORAS) —at the stations along the Banihal to Baramulla route.

The commandos have also been deployed along sensitive stations, like Jammu and Pathankot, on the 654-km route of the Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express to respond to any security situation.

Railways minister Piyush Goyal had also said the Centre plans to have railway connectivity between Kashmir and Kanyakumari, the country’s southernmost point, before August 2022.

The government plan involves a 272-km long rail line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with the railways network under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project (USBRL).

The 111-km-long railway stretch between Katra and Banihal, currently under construction, will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country.

Of the total length of 272 km, work has been completed on 16-km stretch. Ministry officials said almost 60% of work has been finished in the Katra-Banihal section.