Title - Qazigund-Banihal Train in Kashmir Gets Railway Board Nod - Free Press Kashmir

Minister Manmohan Singh, the railway authorities have given the green signal to run Qazigund-Banihal train service on 17.8 km track between the two stations.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Northern Circle, which had conducted the safety inspection of the train as well as the rail track on June 18 and 19 has
given its approval to run the train.
“We received the green signal on Friday from the Railway Board for running the train between Banihal and Qazigund,” a northern railway official in Ferozepur said.
“The clearance from the CRS is essential to ply any train on any new track,” he added.
Sources said the railway officials in Kashmir have geared up to give a final shape to the arrangements to launch of the rail services from Banhial in Ramban of Jammu and Qazigund in Kulgam of south Kashmir.
The train to be flagged off by Prime Minister has reached Banihal station that has been decorated with flowers. The train will be flagged off from Banihal on June 26 jointly by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Work on the Qazigund Banihal section of rail track-which also passes through 11.17 km Pir Panjal tunnel, which is the country’s longest and Asia’s second longest tunnel, has been executed by IRCON, a PSU under railways and they have already handed it over to the railways.
The first trial run of the train between Qazigund and Banihal was conducted on December 25.
“On the commissioning of this section, the distance between Banihal and Qazigund will be reduced by almost half and the rail link will make all-weather connectivity between Kashmir and Banihal possible,” said another official of IRCON.
The trains from Kashmir would, however, still not be able to reach to other parts of the country as important railway stretch between Udhampur-Banihal is still under construction and is likely to be completed by 2017.
The first phase of the train service between Anantnag and Budgam districts was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 11, 2008.
The second phase of the train between Budgam and Baramulla was flagged off by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on February 14, 2009, followed by the third phase between Anantnag to Qazigund by the Prime Minister on October 28, 2009.

114-year-old dream a reality

1898: Maharaja Pratap Singh first explored the possibility to connect Jammu with the Valley with a railway line.
1905: Maharaja Pratap Singh approved a narrow-gauge railway line between Jammu and Srinagar via Reasi through the Mughal Road, which did not take off.
1947: Jammu was disconnected from the railway system as the old Jammu Sialkot Junction rail link was shelved
1971: Jammu reconnected through a broad- gauge railway link with Pathankot.
1983: Jammu-Udhampur railway link project starts
2005: Jammu-Udhampur rail link commissioned.
2009: Railway link in the Valley from Qazigund to Baramulla (119 km) commissioned.
2013: Train to ply between Valley to Banihal in Jammu