Modi Unveils Jammu Railway Division, Telangana Terminal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday lauded the country's rapid advancement in connectivity as he inaugurated the Jammu railway division — a key step towards linking the Kashmir valley with the rest of the country through rail network.

- Neha LM Tripathi

The PM also inaugurated the Charlapalli terminal station in Telangana and laid the foundation for the Rayagada railway division building in Odisha under the East Coast Railway zone virtually from Delhi. The Jammu division, which has been carved out from the Firozpur division in Punjab, includes sections such as Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla, Bhogpur-Sirwal-Pathankot, Batala-Pathankot and Pathankot to Joginder Nagar sections with the combined length of 742.1 km.

"As the railway network expands, setting up new divisions like Jammu will benefit regions like Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Leh-Ladakh. J&K is achieving new milestones in railway infrastructure, with the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail line being discussed all over the country today," Modi said.

With the focus on bringing connectivity to the Valley, the railways had recently indicated that train operations between Jammu and Kashmir will start in the coming weeks, as it notified the timetable of one Vande Bharat and two mail or express trains.

According to the schedule, the Vande Bharat train will depart daily from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) at 8.10 am and arrive at Srinagar by 11.20 am. For the return journey, it will leave Srinagar at 12.45 pm and reach SVDK at 3.55 pm. The other two trains will also operate round trips daily.

While the date of the first train connecting Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be announced, officials said, it is expected to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister by the month-end.