RailEnquiry

Days after eight soldiers were killed in a militant attack, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi strongly reaffirmed the government's commitment to Kashmir's development as they opened a historic train tunnel link that connects the Valley to the Jammu region."People here are fed up of bloodshed. The youth here want jobs. The UPA wants Kashmir's future to be written with secularism, development and democracy, where problems are solved through dialogue," Sonia said at the ceremony at Banihal station to flag off the first train on the route.It was the first visit to the state by Singh and Sonia after Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged. About 10,000 security personnel were deployed in the town for the high-profile event that was held under the shadow of terror."Today, we begin a new chapter in Jammu and Kashmir. Through this rail link, Kashmir will eventually have an all-weather connect with the outside world. Even its remotest, backward regions will have equal opportunities. There will be development in tourism, handicrafts and other industries," Sonia said referring to the link which will reduce travel time on the stretch by over one hour.The 17.5 km link between Banihal in Jammu and Qazigund in the Valley is the first all-weather route between the two regions. Cited as the UPA's flagship project to showcase its reconstruction of Jammu and Kashmir, the stretch has a 11-km-long tunnel through the mighty Pir Panjal range.The only existing link on this route, the Jawahar Tunnel meant for road transport and opened in 1965, gets blocked in winter due to heavy snow. The rail tunnel runs 300 metres below Jawahar Tunnel and is shielded from the harsh winter.The line between Banihal and Qazigund has reduced the 35-km road journey to 17.5 km by rail. It also promises economical and faster transportation of goods, food grains and fuel to the Valley."I would ask railways to complete the remaining work of the Kashmir link as early as possible so that we can connect Kashmir with the development process in the rest of the country," Singh said after flagging off the first train.

Built by railways PSU IRCON, the Pir Panjal tunnel is the country's longest and Asia's second longest transport tunnel. It has cost Rs 1,691 crore and taken seven years to build in the face of engineering challenges which are part of the 345-km rail link from Jammu to Baramulla.

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Until then, the railways is working out a system in collaboration with the state government to launch a multi-modal travel ticket, with which people can come to Katra by train, take a bus until Banihal and board a train again to Srinagar with only a single ticket.