Srinagar(J&K): Union Minister for Railways, Communications, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that Kashmir will be brought on the national rail network by January next year. The minister said that Jammu & Kashmir has received the biggest budget for railroad projects this year.
While speaking at a press conference in Srinagar about the ongoing work on the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, he said that "Kashmir Rail will be connected to the rest of the country by December 2023 or January 2024 and the Public will also be able to benefit from this service”.
The Union Railway Minister said that specially designed semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains will also run on this line in order to benefit the people. Vaishnaw said that the trains are being manufactured with special consideration for Kashmir's climatic conditions. “Since these trains will connect to other lines, you won't need to switch trains while traveling from metro city to Kashmir," he said.
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Vaishnaw said that Jammu & Kashmir has received the biggest budget for railroad projects this year with a budget provision of Rs 5,983 crore. He further said that there has been a “significant rise in project execution and budget allocation since 2014”. “Compared to the Rs 1,044 crore allocated for infrastructure projects from 2009 to 2014, the allocation for 2014 to 2019 rose to 1,726 crore annually, or 65% more than the annual budgetary allotment from 2009 to 2014,” he added.
Pertinently, the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link which is aimed to provide hassle free and reliable alternative transportation to Kashmir valley was declared a National Project in 2002. As per the Northern Railways, the 161 of the 272 km rail link has been commissioned. The 118-km Qazigund-Baramulla section, the 18 km Banihal-Qazigund section and the 25 km Udhampur-Katra section were commissioned in October 2009, June 2013 and July 2014 respectively.
The work is going on in full swing on the 111 km Banihal-Katra section of the USBRL.
