Jammu: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday confirmed that passengers will have to go for transhipment at Katra railway station once the commercial operation begins for the Srinagar line.
Addressing a virtual press conference, the minister said that for transhipment the next train will be available at the same platform where the train stops. "This practice is already in place in many countries. People will continue their onward journey on the same ticket but will have to change the train because the upward train is designed for Srinagar temperature," the minister said.
ETV Bharat had reported that passengers will have to go for transhipment at Katra station which was confirmed by the minister today.
Ashwani Vaishnaw said that all the tests on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Railway-Line (USBRL) have been done and the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) has submitted his report, which is being evaluated. “Soon the commercial operation between Katra and Srinagar will start and after that once the Jammu station work is completed, trains will run between Srinagar and Jammu,” he informed.
“The timetable of the Srinagar bound Vande Bharat will be up to Jammu railway station but as the expansion work is currently being executed at Jammu Tawi railway station, which is expected to be completed by August-September, that Vande Bharat will run between Srinagar and Katra and after that it will be extended upto Jammu,” the minister added.
“The Jammu Tawi railway station only had three platforms but now it is being increased to seven and it is in the process of being made a quality station under the Amrit Bharat station Scheme. Three more railway stations of Jammu and Kashmir will be developed under ABSS,” the minister said. The other three stations include Udhampur, Katra and Budgam stations.
People are eagerly waiting for the start of the train service up to Srinagar and two racks of specially designed Vande Bharat to suit the sub-zero temperature of Kashmir Valley have already arrived in Jammu and Kashmir.
Elaborating on the budgetary provision for railways in Jammu and Kashmir, Ashwani Vaishnaw informed that Rs 844 crore has been kept in this union territory. “As the USBRL project is nearing completion, fewer provisions have been kept for J&K but if any new project is started, the budgetary provisions will be increased,” he added.
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