With Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurating Jammu Railway Division on 06th of January, more than six decade dream, nurtured by the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be coming true. The inauguration of the newly-created Jammu Railway Division, meeting a long-pending demand, comes ahead of the launch of the much-awaited direct train service to Kashmir by or before January 26 this year. Presently Jammu comes under Firozpur Railway Division of Northern Railway.
Ahead of the inauguration, the first trial train successfully ran on the Katra-Banihal section on Saturday, in a crucial step towards the final statutory safety inspection next week to determine the commencement of rail services to Kashmir. The Railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including major milestones such as India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Khad Bridge, and the iconic arch bridge over the Chenab at Kauri – the world’s highest railway bridge.The Commissioner of Railway Safety would conduct statutory inspections and trials on January 7 and 8 and submit a report that will guide further action on starting train services to Kashmir.
Surface communication is key to the economic growth of any region, Jammu and Kashmir being no exception. For ages, people of Valley have remained depended on Srinagar-Jammu Highway. Though lots of work has been done to make the highway more reliable still an alternate connection with the rest of the country what will not only bring Kashmir closer to rest of the country but will help boost its economic growth too. In this backdrop, the official reports, suggesting that the direct train from Delhi to Kashmir will chug this month, sound music to the ear.
While the direct train service from New Delhi to Kashmir will undoubtedly increase the tourist footfall here, It will be a big opening for the horticulture sector. Fruits like cherry and strawberry, plums, apricot are the ones with least shelf life will reach Mandis well in time. Every year, the orchardists depended solely on the mercy of weather and the condition of the Srinagar-Jammu highway to transport their fruit to bigger Mandis. Most of the times they would suffer losses as due to closure of highway the fruit would rot in the trucks. However, with direct train to New Delhi, horticulture sector is likely to benefit the most as fruit from here would reach outside Mandis without any delays and thus the growers would benefit a lot.
The train service will boost tourism as intending tourists will have a viable alternative to travel to Kashmir. From past few years, it has been witnessed that during peak season, the airlines charge hefty amounts and thus impacting the tourist arrivals. With direct train from Delhi to Kashmir, the hegemony of the airlines will be over and more and more people from rest of the country would be able to afford Kashmir visit that would give flip to the tourism industry here.
