By Amir Tantray
Jammu: With the train to Kashmir becoming a reality soon, all the trains going to Srinagar and returning will have to stop at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi railway station at Katra in Jammu every time for mandatory transfers. If one were to factor in the transshipment, the passengers will have to take two trains to complete a rail trip between Kashmir and Delhi.
The security aspect
Officials in the Railways told ETV Bharat that due to security reasons it has been decided that Katra station will be a point where passengers will have to do transshipment.
"Every time a train either comes from Srinagar or goes there will stop at SMVD railway station at Katra and passengers will have to board another train for the onward journey," an official said.
"The platform number 1 has been dedicated for trains of Kashmir and whenever a train arrives there all the passengers will have to deboard it and go outside the station. They will have to re-scan their luggage at the departure lounge and then will be boarding the train stationed at platform number one for the onward journey. The same train will not proceed to further destinations and passengers will have to wait for the next train to proceed further," he added.
Proposed Vande Bharat service
A time table of train service to Kashmir issued by Northern Railway on December 31 had mentioned that one Vande Bharat and two Mail Express trains will be running on a daily basis between SMVD Katra and Srinagar. The Railways had also issued the train timings but there was no mention of what will happen to the onward journey from Katra to the rest of the country.
As per the chart issued by the northern railways, Vande Bharat train will be leaving from Katra at 8:10 am and will be reaching Srinagar at 11:20 am, Mail Express train will be leaving from Katra at 9:50 am and will be reaching Srinagar at 1:10 pm and another Mail Express train will be leaving Katra at 3 pm and will be reaching Srinagar at 6:20 pm.
Similarly, from Srinagar the Mail Express train will leave at 8:45 am and will reach Katra at 12:05 pm, Vande Bharat will leave at 12:45 pm and will reach Katra at 3:55 pm and another Mail express will leave at 3:05 pm and will reach Katra at 6:30 pm.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on the union government to announce the inauguration date for the train to Kashmir with the inauguration expected on January 13 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit Srinagar and inaugurate Z-Morh tunnel on Srinagar-Leh national highway between Gagangir and Sonamarg.
History of train service in J&K
The history of railways in Jammu and Kashmir dates to the pre-independence era when in 1890 a train service was started between Jammu and Sialkot (now in Pakistan). After that it was only after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan that work started to bring direct train to Jammu from Punjab.
In 1972, the first train reached Jammu with the name of Srinagar express, now Jhelum Express and after that other trains also arrived in the winter capital. The latest among them all is Vande Bharat express, which is expected to become the first train to Kashmir directly from the national capital.
In 1981, Jammu to Udhampur train project was taken up and the foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on April 14, 1983. After missing several deadlines, on April 13, 2005 the then PM Manmohan Singh flagged off the train service to Udhampur, which is also the headquarters of northern command.
It was the turn of Kashmir valley to witness trains running and from October 11, 2009 onward, different sections of local train service were started and on July 4, 2014, direct train service to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, was also started and PM Narendra Modi flagged off the same.
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