More than hundred years after Kashmir was promised a rail link, the dream finally got on track on 11th October as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged off the first train connecting Srinagar to Rajwanshar in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Although the track on which the inaugural run was made was a mere 66km and the train had only 8 coaches, the significance and symbolism of the flag off goes much farther. The train wil not only shrink distances in the Valley and eventually connect it to Jammu, it will give Kashmiris an emblem of pride.
Kashmir was promised a rail link by Maharaja Pratap Singh, the region’s Dogra ruler in 1892. The British took up that promise but never delivered and then independent India’s governments struggled to make it happen. Strife and terrorism came in the way and the challenge of boring through weak mountains and bridging huge crevasses stalled the project several times.