Kashmir rail services back on track
November 24th, 2011 - 4:49 pm ICT by IANS
Srinagar, Nov 24 (IANS) A day after 20 people sustained minor injuries in a derailment in Jammu and Kashmir, rail services in the valley resumed Thursday as per schedule, an official said.
“We run two trains of eight coaches in the valley daily and these are running on schedule today,” Upinder Singh, chief area manager of the railways, told IANS here.
The first train starts in the morning from south Kashmir’s Qazigund station to Srinagar and another leaves central Kashmir’s Badgam station for Baramulla station in north Kashmir.
“Our coaches are air-heated during the winter months and we have separate cabins for the physically-challenged passengers,” Singh added.
He said more than 6,000 passengers avail of the train services in the valley daily, travelling to their offices and back home.
The engine and one coach of the Qazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla train Wednesday derailed in Anantnag district, injuring 20 people, in the first rail accident since the train services were launched in the Kashmir Valley in 2008.
“Initial investigations have shown the accident happened because of a pressure leakage, but the final report is awaited,” Singh said.
The Qazigund-Baramulla rail stretch is 119 km long, of which the initial 66 km stretch in south Kashmir was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi in October 2008.
The train services are still to be connected with the rest of the country as the 11.89 km long rail tunnel across the Pir Panchal mountains, the longest tunnel in the world, would be ready for traffic in December 2012.
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- Rs.19,000 crore approved for J&K; rail line - Jan 04, 2012
- Militants attack Kashmir rail (Second Lead) - Apr 02, 2010
- After 5 months, Kashmir rail services back on track - Dec 23, 2010
- PM inaugurates historic railway link in Kashmir - Oct 28, 2009
- Militants blow up rail track in Kashmir (Lead) - Apr 02, 2010
- Good roads, railways vital for J&K;: Omar Abdullah - Sep 10, 2012
- Tracking Jammu and Kashmir's rail history - Oct 28, 2009
- Konkan Railway enters 22nd year of operation - Oct 16, 2011
- Rail service resumes in Kashmir Valley - Dec 24, 2010
- Work commences on Udhampur-Baramulla rail project - Dec 03, 2009
- Train derails in Uttar Pradesh, all passengers safe - Apr 27, 2011
- Locals demand rail service to be resumed in Baramulla - May 01, 2011
- IVRCL bags Rs.972 crore-worth orders - Oct 31, 2011
- High security along Kashmir rail track - Mar 09, 2011
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