JAMMU, Jan 3: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will remain present in Jammu on January 6 along with Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh during virtual inauguration of Jammu Railways Division by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On January 5 and 6, statutory inspections are also scheduled to be conducted in presence of the senior Railways officers on Katra-Reasi and beyond before launch of training to Kashmir in the middle or end of this month.
Jammu has been given Railways Division ahead of the launch of train to the Kashmir valley.
Officials said the inspections on January 5 and 6 and if required again after few days will determine when the Prime Minister will flag off first train to Kashmir.
Presently, the train services run between Baramulla and Sangaldan and from different parts of the country to Katra, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine.
Now, the track from Katra to Sangaldan is also ready and trains from across India will chug to Baramulla following clearance by the Railways and security officials.
Sources said at the time of inauguration of Jammu Railways Division virtually by the Prime Minister from New Delhi on January 6, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh will be present at Jammu. Another Railways Division will be virtually inaugurated by the PM at Odisha at the same time.
The Union Ministers will return to New Delhi while the Railways officials will remain engaged in trial run of the train services from Katra to Reasi and Sangaldan.
While giving the details of the upcoming railway operations on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link, the sources said that from January 5-6, statutory inspections will be conducted for the opening of the Katra-Reasi (16.501 km) section.
“This section is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla New Broad Gauge Rail Link Project. The inspection will start at 20:50 hrs on January 5 and conclude at 07:55 hrs on January 6,” they added.
The Commissioner of Railways Safety (CRS) is expected to submit an inspection report to the Union Government on January 8.
Phase-I of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) Project, covering the 118-km-long Qazigund-Baramulla section, was inaugurated in October 2009. Subsequent phases included the inauguration of the 18-km-long Banihal-Qazigund section in June 2013 and the 25-km-long Udhampur-Katra section in July 2014
