‘Train to Kashmir likely to face delay of few months ’

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said that the Katra-Sangaldan train service is likely to be delayed by a few months and will begin operations in April with the onset of the tourism season.

Advertisement

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party function here, Abdullah said he was preparing to travel to Srinagar onboard the train on January 25.

“I heard that the train (to Kashmir) will face a two-month delay due to some incomplete works. Those works are being attended to and they will start the train in April with the onset of the tourism season,” the former chief minister said.

In December last year, the Railway Ministry announced the completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, the work that was started in 1997 to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country.

The railway authorities conducted several trial runs on various sections including the Katra-Srinagar track besides the statutory inspection by Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, Dinesh Chand Deshwal in the past one month, brightening the chances of early operationalization of the service.