The Northern Railway in Jammu will, for the first time, operate a local train service between Katra and Sangaldan starting Monday. This route is part of the Katra-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line and aims to help local residents reach their destinations due to the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway following incessant rains, floods and landslides for nearly a month.
Pointing out that the special train will run for five days, from September 8 to 12, railway officials said train No. 04685 will leave Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra station at 8.40 am and reach Sangaldan at 10 am. It will stop at stations like Reasi, Bakkal, Dugga, Sawalkot, Sangaldan, etc. Train No. 04686 will depart from Sangaldan at 2:15 pm and arrive at Katra at 3:45 pm, with the same stoppages en route, they added.
The Northern Railway Jammu Division made the decision under the guidance Senior Divisional Manager Vivek Kumar and the directives of Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Uchit Singhal and Senior Divisional Manager (Operations) Arish Bansal. This decision aims to provide immediate relief to people and passengers stranded due to road damage caused by flash floods during the rainy season, according to officials. Except for the reopening of National Highway 44 for a day or two from time to time, the road between Jammu and Srinagar has remained mostly closed.
Apart from the local train, which runs only up to Sangaldan from the Kashmir side and vice versa, only a Vande Bharat train operates between Katra and Srinagar railway stations, covering a distance of 189 km in three hours. Of this, 97 km of the and 111 km between Katra and Banihal is through 27 tunnels, while another 7 km passes over 49 bridges, including the iconic rail arch bridge over Chenab and the cable-stayed bridge over Anji Khad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Vande Bharat train service between Katra and Srinagar on June 6. This event marked the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line, which the Central government approved in 1994-95. However, significant progress on the project occurred only after the government designated it as a national project in 2002.
Earlier, the Northern Railway Jammu Division had run special trains from Katra and Jammu towards Pathankot to clear the rush of Shri Mata Vaishnodevi pilgrims and other passengers who got stranded at various places following heavy rains and a flood-like situation in Jammu province. It had also made adequate arrangements for food and water for the passengers at railway stations en route.
Meanwhile, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday as heavy rains obstructed the road restoration works between Udhampur and Ramban districts.
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According to the traffic police, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was still closed for vehicular traffic as the road restoration works were still in progress. It advised the people not to undertake journeys on NH-44 till the restoration work is completed.
The pilgrimage to the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine in the Trikuta Hills near Katra has also remained suspended for the past 13 days. The yatra was suspended till further orders by the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board following the death of 34 pilgrims following a landslide en route to the yatra route near Adh Kunwari on August 26.
However, traffic was moving on the Mughal Road, which connects the border of Poonch district in Jammu province with Shopian in Kashmir, and on the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri (SSG) road, it said.
Meanwhile, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) also restored traffic on the Basohli-Bani road in Kathua district after bypassing the damaged stretch, officials said.
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The meteorological department has predicted light rain or thundershowers scattered to many places across J-K with a possibility of moderate rain or thunder showers over a few districts of the Jammu division towards late night or early morning on September 7 and 8.
