Indian Railways restore train services in Kashmir valley

The Indian Railways decided to restore the train services in the Kashmir valley on Tuesday to benefit the thousands of local commuters travelling from Baramulla to Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a press release, the decision to restart the train services in Kashmir valley was taken after due security audits and an assurance by the Government Railways Police, Jammu and Kashmir.

On November 7, the railway tracks were covered with snow of thickness of 20-45 cm following heavy snowfall. The Srinagar-Baramulla and Srinagar-Banihal sections were cleared of the snow before permitting safe operations on the railway tracks.

"Accordingly, inspection and trial runs were undertaken between Srinagar - Baramulla Rail Section on November 10 and between Srinagar-Banihal section on November 16," said the Railways in a press statement.

The period of the train services was increased from 5 hours to 9 hours, i.e. between 8 AM to 5 PM, and the sections have been restored to their normal speed of 100 kmph.

A total of 16 train services are presently running on both sections.