The Hindu Business Line : Toot-toot in Kashmir

Since its launch in October this year, the gleaming red train in Kashmir has carried passengers from all parts of the landlocked valley; it didn’t matter that many on that train were there for the sheer joy of it and not because they really needed to travel on the Srinagar-Anantnag route.

After all, it’s been a wait of more than a hundred years for the planned rail link to materialise in the Valley. Maharaja Pratap Singh of Kashmir had laid the foundation stone for it on March 1, 1892 at Srinagar. The project was later shelved due to lack of funds and expertise, and other political developments.

In 1983, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave the green signal for a Jammu-Udhampur rail link, with plans to extend it ultimately to the Kashmir valley. But the project was delayed by the extreme topography and finally completed at ten times the original cost in 2005. The proposal for an Udhampur-Baramulla railway line was announced by the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao in 1996 and the foundation stone laid by his successor H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997.

The train running in Kashmir today is part of this larger Udhampur-Baramulla line, which will ultimately connect Kashmir with the outside world.

After it was inaugurated in Srinagar by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the train immediately began attracting huge crowds. Touted as one of the most modern trains in the country and on par with the Delhi Metro, it is geared to ensure comfortable travel in the typical Kashmiri weather.

The wide windows with unbreakable and splinter-proof polycarbonate panes give travellers a panoramic view of the scenic valley, and the coaches have sliding doors and displays that provide information on the approaching stations and the route.

Currently, there are 7-8 coaches, each with 90 seats. The reclining seats also have foldable snack trays.

The train is fitted with a specially-designed 1,400-hp engine and a secondary engine to generate enough heat to prevent the engine and its lubricants from freezing. During winter, central heating of the coaches keeps passengers warm and comfortable. The driver’s cabin has inbuilt heating, and a de-freezing and defogging unit.

For snow clearance during winter, a snow-cutter has been attached at the driver’s end of the train.

At present, the train traverses 66 km in one hour and 35 minutes. Mohiudin Shah, travelling from Anantnag to Srinagar, is all praise: “I used to pay Rs 50 and spend two hours cramped in a car to reach Srinagar every day; but now, thanks to this train, it takes me less time and just Rs 15.”

Thanks to the train’s popularity, it earned a record Rs 7 lakh during the first 18 days of the service. The railway authorities plan to add additional bogies and increase the daily frequency on this route from two to three.

Hundreds of families can be seen jostling for tickets, particularly during holidays. “We find that entire families, particularly excited children, want a joyride on this train,” said a railway official.

For many in Kashmir, it has not only been a first-time travel on a train but also a first-ever sighting of one! “This is the first time that I am seeing a real train; earlier I have seen it only on TV,” says Begum Hajira from Budgam.

Encouraged by the response of the people, the Railways has speeded up work on the construction of the entire 120-km stretch of the Qazigund-Baramulla line.

They hope to see the train traverse the entire stretch by the year-end, thereby bringing the southern part of Kashmir closer to its northern parts.

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