Jitendra, LG, Dy CM thank PM Modi
DH NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, Aug 10
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Amritsar-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Train service virtually on Sunday.
Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (PMO), said that this is a historical moment for Jammu and Kashmir, and the credit for this goes to PM Modi.
MoS Singh said this would make the journey easy for devotees coming from different parts of the country to pay obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra in Jammu.
J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for dedicating the Vande Bharat Train service between Amritsar to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station to the nation.
“The new Vande Bharat Train will ensure ease of travel for devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and spur the growth momentum of the local economy,” the L-G said.
He observed that the transport infrastructure of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in railways, has witnessed unprecedented growth under the leadership of the Prime Minister. He said the first freight train, which reached Anantnag from Punjab on Saturday, has marked a significant milestone in the transport infrastructure and trade of the Kashmir valley.
The Lieutenant Governor posted on X: “Grateful to Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji for flagging off Vande Bharat Train between Amritsar to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station. J&K’s transport infrastructure, particularly in railways, has witnessed unprecedented growth under the leadership of Hon’ble PM. New Vande Bharat Train will ensure ease of travel for devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi and spur the growth momentum of the local economy. Yesterday, first freight train had reached Anantnag from Punjab, marking a significant milestone in Kashmir Valley’s transport infra and trade”.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Amritsar Vande Bharat Express Train will depart from Katra at 6.40 a.m. to reach Amritsar at 12.20 p.m. the same day. In return direction, the Amritsar- Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express Train will depart from Amritsar at 4.25 p.m. to reach Katra at 10 p.m.
The Train will run six days a week except Tuesday.
The Vande Bharat train service currently operates from Katra to Baramulla, and before the end of the year, it will operate from Jammu railway station, making the journey easier and hassle-free in future.
The arrival of the freight train at Anantnag on Saturday with cement for infrastructure development will boost the local economy as it will make the to-and-fro carriage of goods cheaper, easier, and will operate 24/7.
Presently, merchandise to and from the Valley is transported by trucks through the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. This highway is unpredictable, especially during the rainy season, as it gets blocked by shooting stones, mudslides and landslides, stranding hundreds of vehicles carrying goods for days.
This stranding of trade goods, especially the perishable items like fruits, vegetables, poultry, mutton, etc., causes heavy losses to traders.
This nightmare of the Kashmiri traders would end with the regular operation of goods trains between the rest of the country and the Valley.
The largest industry of Kashmir is the horticulture, which thrives chiefly on the Valley’s apple production. This sector of the local economy would get the maximum benefit by the operationalisation of goods trains to the Valley.
Union minister Jitendra Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday for sanctioning a Vande Bharat train to link the holy towns of Katra and Amritsar, and said the transport infrastructure, particularly in the railways, has witnessed unprecedented growth in the Union Territory over the last 11 years.
In Bengaluru, the prime minister on Sunday flagged off three Vande Bharat Express trains — from Bengaluru to Belagavi, from Punjab’s Amritsar to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in Jammu and Kashmir and from Nagpur (Ajni) to Pune.
“This (Katra-Amritsar) is the fourth Vande Bharat Express train gifted to Jammu and Kashmir by Prime Minister Modi, who has given top priority to this region ever since taking the reins of the government in 2014…. I do not know if there is any other railway station in the country where four Vande Bharat trains stop,” Singh told reporters on board the newly-launched train.
He congratulated the people of Jammu for the new train and said when Modi took over as the prime minister in 2014, the railway project to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country was almost abandoned.
“Modi’s election campaign in 2014 started by paying obeisance at the Vaishno Devi shrine. After getting elected, he dedicated the Katra railway station to the nation and when Vande Bharat trains were introduced in the country, the second train was sanctioned for the Katra-Delhi section. In the second phase of the Vande Bharat rollout, another train was gifted to Jammu and Kashmir,” the Union minister said.
He said the prime minister visited Katra in June to flag off two Vande Bharat trains from Katra to Srinagar, marking the completion of the decades-old national railway project to connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari. The trains will later run between Srinagar and Jammu.
“The Vaishno Devi shrine is witness to all this in the last 11 years. The first train reached Jammu and Kashmir in 1972 and it took more than 50 years to connect Kashmir by train.
The LG thanked the prime minister for the Vande Bharat train between Amritsar and Katra.
“Grateful to PM Narendra Modi for flagging off Vande Bharat Train between Amritsar to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station. J&K’s transport infrastructure, particularly in railways, has witnessed unprecedented growth under the leadership of PM. New Vande Bharat Train will ensure ease of travel for devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi and spur the growth momentum of the local economy,” he said in a post on X.
Referring to the first freight train reaching the Anantnag station in south Kashmir from Punjab on Saturday, Sinha said it marks a significant milestone in the Kashmir valley’s transport infrastructure and trade.
Addressing the gathering before the flag-off ceremony at the Katra railway station, Deputy Chief Minister Choudhary lauded Modi for making the dream of railway connectivity between Kashmir and the rest of the country a reality.
“We are lucky to witness the dreams that our elders saw getting fulfilled under the leadership of Modi. Our prime minister and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah flagged off the first train from Katra to Kashmir (on June 6) — a historic moment as many were of the opinion that the train could never reach Kashmir, which was infamous for terror activities. But the region has witnessed fast development,” he said.
He welcomed the launch of the new Vande Bharat train service between Katra and Amritsar and said it is a proud moment for people as the train is going to connect two revered shrines — the Vaishno Devi temple and the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
“I am thankful to the prime minister and the railway minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) for laying a railway network, which will help in employment generation and boost tourism,” Choudhary said, requesting for extending the network to cover Rajouri and Poonch districts.
He also praised Singh for his efforts in getting various public-centric projects sanctioned for Jammu and Kashmir while sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office.
