Rs 19,000 cr cleared for Jammu-Valley rail link

Union Cabinet on Wednesday sanctioned over Rs 19,000 crore for the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project aimed at ensuring rail connectivity between Kashmir valley with rest of the country. Sources said the fund will be utilized for building rail tracks from Katra in Jammu to Qazigund in Kashmir. Recently, the construction work for longest railway tunnel piercing through the Pir Panjal range was completed that paved the way to connect Banihal and Qazigund. The 10.96 km-long tunnel will reduce the travel distance between Quazigund and Banihal, and provide a hassle-free travel up to Baramulla. Railways completed work on the 119-km Qazigund-Srnagar-Baramulla track in 2009. The work on Udhampur-Katra and Katra- Qazigund sections are going on and the deadlines for completion of the two sections have been set at 2013 and 2017, respectively. The project to ensure rail link to Kashmir valley was announced over 17 years ago.