Trial run on Udhampur-Katra line starts

The Northern Railways on Monday successfully carried out the trial run of the 16-coach DMU between Udhampur and Katra, the base camp of the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage. The train is the Prime Minister’s new year gift to the people of the country.

Water-logging and intense seepage around the shrine site spoiled years of labour and have made four deadlines elusive for the engineers in the last five years.

Chief Public Relations Officer with the Northern Railways Neeraj Sharma informed that the Central government already had a provision of three special trains to Katra in the current year’s budget.

New trains to be introduced

A set of local trains from Jammu to Katra and from Pathankot to Katra are also likely to be introduced to cater to the rush of pilgrims, the Northern Railways officials said. With the opening of the Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra, the authorities are likely to extend Jammu Mail and Uttar Sampark Kranti to Katra.

Some new trains, including Katra-Kalka (Chandigarh) Express (bi-weekly), Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur Express (fully air-conditioned) and Ahmedabad-Udhampur Express, are also set to be introduced on the route subsequently.

Even as General Manager Northern Railways V.K. Gupta refused to specify a date of the commercial operation and maintained that it would be decided after the mandatory inspection and clearance by the Commissioner of Railway Safety, authoritative sources disclosed to The Hindu that the UPA government was “terribly keen” to see that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurate the train to Katra in the first fortnight of the new year.

“Inaugurations are done and forgotten but this would be a memorable one,” said a senior official. Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Mandeep Bhandari said over 1.05 crore pilgrims had visited the shrine to pay obeisance last year.

“This year, 90 lakh devotees have visited till date,” Dr. Bhandari said.

The whole Jammu-Udhampur-Katra-Banihal-Qazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link will come closer to its logical conclusion,” Deputy Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. He said the railway authorities were hopeful of connecting the whole State, including the Kashmir Valley, to the rest of the country, with this dream project.

Concrete lining Pir-Panjal Tunnel