New Delhi ,June 14: The much-awaited railway section linking Kashmir valley with rest of the country will be launched on June 25 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi jointly flagoffthefirst train . The 18-km-long section between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in Kashmir will provide an all -weather surface link to the valley which often gets snappeddue tosnowfallduring winters. The section, which includes an 11-km -long tunnel , will reduce the distance from 35kmto18kms .Ithas beenconstructed ata costof Rs 1,691crore . Train service is already operational within Kashmir valley between Qazigund and Baramulla in north Kashmir . “ The mandatory inspection of the track by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is slated on June 18 and after that the line is expected to Northern RailwayGeneral Manager VKGuptasaid heretoday . Trial run on this section was successfully done on December 28 last year and sincethentrainscarrying stones arerunningonregular basis. This section will have two main railway stations - Banihal in Jammu division andQazigund inKashmir division . In addition to these stations, a halt station is also being provided at Hillar village inAnantnagdistrict for theconvenience oflocalpublic . "It was a challenging task . Besides the difficult terrain, acquired for the Kashmir rail link project in adverse law and order situationinthe state,"GM said .
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 01:32:09 +0000
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