Soaking in the beauty of Kashmir by train

Jan 20, 2007, 9:00 GMT

Jammu, Jan 20 (IANS) Imagine chugging through Jammu and Kashmir, soaking in glimpses of snow-capped Himalayan peaks, vast meadows and gurgling brooks from inside railway coaches with transparent glasses.

Kashmir, known as the Switzerland of Asia, will soon have trains with such specially designed coaches that would be some kind of a novelty in India.

Indian Railways plans to run a train between Qazigund and Baramulla - a distance of nearly 100 km - by the end of this year. And since the landscape is beautiful, the coaches with transparent glasses will add to the pleasures of the journey.

The Qazigund-Baramulla rail link project was started in July 1997 and is expected to be completed by the end of this year, according to V. N. Mathur, general manager, Northern Railway.

He made this disclosure at a meeting with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad late Friday, according to an official spokesman. He said the Udhampur-Katra track would also be made operational this year.

However, the Srinagar-Jammu railway track will take some more time. Earlier it was scheduled to be completed by August 2007, but the target date has been postponed because of the tough terrain. This track will pass through 45 tunnels.

The Srinagar-Jammu rail link will have as many as 50 stations and Rs.1.2 billion will be transferred to the Jammu and Kashmir State Public Works Department for construction of the approach roads to the stations and tunnels.

The chief minister said the Srinagar-Baramulla and Udhampur-Katra would boost economic, trade, commerce and tourism activities in the state.

'The people of Jammu and Kashmir state are considered throughout the world as the best entrepreneurs, tradesmen, tourist lovers,' he said.

Azad said flowers of great aesthetic beauty and fragrance, if air flown from Kashmir to international markets without any transport delays, could fetch millions of dollars for the growers. Similarly, rail and air linkages near all tourist destinations would prove very effective for attracting more tourists, he said.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service