Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 5: Northern Railway has undertaken a pioneer initiative in affording rail passengers seamless travel to the Kashmir region through Rail-cum-Road bridging scheme. As Katra-Banihal rail section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Line (USBRL) is under construction, Northern Railway has taken an initiative by bridging the gap through road transport between Udhampur and Banihal. A single ticket will be issued for passengers covering the dual modes of transportation. The scheme has been introduced from today.
As part of this initiative, Northern Railway has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Jammu & Kashmir State Government by which passengers booked to travel into the Kashmir Valley, can disembark at Udhampur to board dedicated buses and be driven to Banihal, from where they can take the waiting train to their destination. The same facility will be available for return journey also, official sources said.
In the first phase 12445/12446 Uttar Sampark Kranti train has been planned between New Delhi to Udhampur. Train No. 74639/74640 shall be the link train for journey between Banihal and Srinagar/Budgam under this scheme. Apart from normal class fare, passengers will be uniformly charged Rs. 260/- for one way road journey. The dual -mode ticketing scheme is being implemented for the first time on Indian Railways and is expected to afford sustained mobility for travellers and tourists to the Kashmir region. Provision of Rest Room and Luggage Porters both will be made at Banihal and Udhampur for the convenience of passengers.
Under this scheme the passengers will travel by 12445 Uttar Sampark Kranti Express departing from New Delhi at 8.50 p.m. (daily) to arrive at Udhampur at 8.05 a.m. From Udhampur the passengers will board the bus which will depart at 8.45 a.m. and arrive at Banihal at 2.00 p.m.. From Banihal the passengers will board the DMU train no. 74639 which will depart at 2.50 p.m. , Anantnag at 3.25 p.m., Srinagar at 4.19 p.m. to arrive at Budgam at 4.45 p.m. the same day.
In the return direction, the passengers having the ticket under the scheme will travel by 74640 DEMU train from Budgam which will depart at 11.10 a.m. , Srinagar at 11.20 a.m., Anantnag at 12.12p.m. to arrive at Banihal at 1.05 p.m.. The passengers de-boarding the DEMU at Banihal will board the bus which will depart from Banihal at 1.45 p.m. to arrive at Udhampur at 7.00 p.m.. From Udhampur they will travel by Udhampur -New Delhi Uttar Sampark Kranti Express train No. 12446 to depart at 7.50 p.m. and arrive at New Delhi at 6.10 a.m. the next day.
Tickets for this service can be booked from any of the Railway PRS Counter.
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