Train to Kashmir, almost

Jun 27, 2013 - YUSUF JAMEEL |

Age Correspondent

Srinagar

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi travel with schoolgirls

A rail link that passes through an 11.21-km-long tunnel beneath the Pir Panjal range and which will eventually connect the Valley with the country’s vast railway network was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister said the Kashmir railway project is part of the government’s effort to develop and connect J&K with the rest of India. What remains is the Banihal-Udhampur section.
Pir Panjal encloses the Valley from the west and south and separates it from the Great Plains of northern India.
The first train on the 18-km section of the all-weather surface link between Banihal, in Jammu region, and Qazigund, the gateway to the Valley, was flagged off by Dr Singh and Mrs Gandhi at Banihal. The 11.21-km-long tunnel is Asia’s second longest, after China’s Wushaoling, and will reduce the distance of 35 km between Banihal and Qazigund to 18 km. It has been constructed in nearly seven years at an estimated cost of `1,300 crore. It will also provide an alternative link to the Jawahar Tunnel along the Srinagar-Jammu highway. An eight-coach train will start regular operations from Banihal to Baramulla, near the LoC, from Thursday.

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