Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 4: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu today announced extension of 12 more trains from different parts of the country to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine while he along with other Union Ministers and J&K Ministers flagged off Chennai Central-Jammu Tawi Andaman Express train up to Katra, which was so far plying only up to Jammu.
Prabhu made the announcement at Railway Bhawan, New Delhi while flagging off Chennai Central-Jammu Tawi Andaman Express from Jammu to Katra this afternoon through remote control. He announced that the Central Government proposed to link Katra town with every part of the country by extending 12 more trains shortly from Jammu and Udhampur and providing more trains to the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine.
Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha, Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, BJP State president Jugal Kishore Sharma and AK Puthia, General Manager, Northern Railways also flagged off the train along with Prabhu while Legislative Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta and Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Manhas flagged off the train from Jammu Railway Station.
Initially, new DMU from Pathankot to Katra was scheduled to be flagged off by the Railways Minister. Now, the DMU from Pathankot to Katra will run shortly depending upon availability of coaches.
Prabhu announced that Katra being historic pilgrimage town with several lakhs of pilgrims visiting the town every year for darshan of Mata Vaishno Devi ji, the Railways Ministry would shortly extend 12 more trains to Katra, which will be in addition to Andaman Express, extended from today.
He said the Government was targeting to link Katra with rail from entire country so that people aspiring to have darshan of Goddess Vaishno Devi ji could visit there directly.
The Railways Minister said the Government also planned to provide more trains on Baramulla-Banihal section of Kashmir and complete Katra-Banihal section shortly.
Prabhu said that it is necessary to provide good transportation facilities to the places of pilgrimage from every part of the country. “The Railways is making sincere efforts in providing best connectivity to the places of pilgrimage,” he said, adding that Ministry of Railway is committed to the development of Railway infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that a meeting of consultative committee attached with Ministry of Railway was held at Srinagar recently. He said that he will soon hold a meeting at Jammu to review the progress of various railway projects. He reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always been emphasizing the need to give priority to the development activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
The tri-weekly Andaman Express service will have a stoppage at Udhampur station between Jammu and Katra.
Twelve trains, which were being extended to Katra from Jammu and Udhampur shortly are, Jamnagar-Jammu Tawi Express, Jabalpur-Jammu Tawi Express, New Delhi-Udhampur Uttar Samparak Kranti Express, Delhi-Udhampur Express, Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express, Bandra Terminal-Jammu Tawi Swaraj Express, Ahmedabad-Jammu Tawi Sarvodaya Express, Hapa-Jammu Tawi Express, Rishikesh-Jammu Tawi Hemkunth Express, Kanyakumari-Jammu Tawi Himsagar Express, Mangalore Central-Jammu Tawi Navyug Express and Kota-Jammu Tawi Express.
The Railways also proposed to run some new trains to Jammu and Katra shortly to ensure rail connectivity to Katra from all parts of the country.
Presently, New Delhi-Katra Shri Shakti Express and Kalika (Chandigarh)-Katra trains are already running up to Katra apart from the DMUs. Sources said the Railways Ministry also proposed to run more DMUs to Katra from Jammu, Pathankot and Jalandhar to cater to the rush of pilgrims.
Addressing the function, MoS in PMO and Lok Sabha member from Udhampur-Doda seat, Dr Jitendra Singh said the extension of trains will benefit pilgrim tourism and local population.
“It’s not only the pilgrims of Katra but entire local population will benefit with running of more trains to the holy town,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh called for expansion of Udhampur railway station and upgradation of Ramnagar railway Station. He said land has already been earmarked for expansion of new railway station at Kathua. He called upon the Railways Minister to extend train to Basohli and Billawar to improve connectivity.
Dr Singh said “it is heartening to see that Indian Railways is paying a lot of attention to the development of the railway infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. He complemented Indian Railways for meeting the demand of people of Katra for increased connectivity with rest of the nation. He pointed out that Railway represents the culture of the country. He said that when the train services reached Katra, many people of the region saw a train for the first time in the life.
In his address, Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh has said that the new rail service DMU will be operating on Pathankot-Katra route soon for the convenience of general public.
He was interacting with media persons on the side lines of the inauguration of Chennai-Katra rail service at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the matter of starting railway service was taken up with the Railways Minister during his visit to the State sometime ago. He said the State is thankful that the long pending demand has been conceded to by the Centre and the same would go a long way in connecting the South with the North besides providing much needed service to the devotees coming to pay obeisance at the holy town of Katra.
Referring to the other developmental activities to be undertaken in the State, the Deputy Chief Minister said that under integrated development projects, the roads and other infra would be upgraded.
He said that the Jammu-Poonch road would be upgraded besides Ramkote and other areas of Kathua district would be undertaken under the integrated development scheme. “Kathua-Bhaderwah road survey would also be undertaken and speeded up so that necessary steps would be initiated so that alternative route is provided to commuters, transporters and general public” he maintained.
A K Puthia, General Manager, Northern Railways, outlined the progress of various Railway Projects being undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir.
Railways sources said in the Railway Budget 2014-15, introduction of 7 pair of Mail/Express trains, 3 pair of Premium trains and 2 pair of DEMU trains have been announced out of which 9 pair of train services have already been introduced to Jammu and Kashmir while remaining 3 pair of train services will be introduced as and when rolling stocks are available.
“The 4 pairs of train services which were running as special trains on Baramulla-Banihal, Baramulla-Budgam and Budgam-Banihal section have been made run as regular service. Now, Baramulla-Budgam-Banihal section is presently being served by 13 pairs of train services (Baramulla-Banihal section is being served by 4 pairs of train services, Baramulla-Badgam section is presently being served by 7 pairs of train services and Budgam-Banihal section is being served by 10 pairs of train services,” sources said.
Apart from this, they added, 24 pair of mail/express trains serving the State of Jammu & Kashmir have been permanently augmented by utilising 24 coaches during 2015-16.
“Presently, Jammu Tawi station is being served by 51 pairs of train services while Udhampur station is being served by 13 pairs of train services,” sources said.
Besides, to clear extra rush of passengers during summer, festive seasons or in connection with various religious congregations, special trains are made run serving the State of Jammu & Kashmir from various destinations as per the volume of traffic as and when required.
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