Kashmir Valley's First Train
Kashmir valley got its first train on October 17, 2008 more than one hundred years after Kashmir was promised a rail link. The train was flagged off connecting Srinagar to Rajwansher in South Kashmir's Anantnag district. The train will run on a track of the length 66 km.The train has only eight coaches .
The train is meant to shrink distances in the valley and eventually connect it to Jammu .It will give Kashmir is an emblem of pride.It will greatly strengthen the integration of Kashmir with the rest of India. Security arrangements for the coaches and passengers have been made foolproof. Kashmir had been promised a rail link by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1892
.The British took up the project but never delivered.Then strife and terrorism came in the way. The 117 km rail link will connect Baramula in the north with Qazigund in the south. The track will be ready during the next year. All the trains on the route will halt at all the seven stations Badgam ,Srinagar, Pampore, Kakapore ,Awantipura, Panjgam and Bijbehara.The trains will run at a maximum permissible speed of 100 kmph. Government of india has enabled Kashmiris to travel a distance of 68 km by spending Rs.15 as fare.
The train link will give a boost to economic prosperity in the valley. Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir(P.O.K.)will envy their brethren in the valley.
