This was stated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) J&K Executive Member Raman Suri, who added that so far, Kashmir is connected with the rest of the country through air and road, but once the railways start their operations here, millions of tourists will visit the valley, thereby adding to the economy. Ever since the Union government led by BJP has started nailing terrorism, the number of tourists visiting Kashmir has gone up to about two crore per year. Similarly, the pilgrimages to cave shrines have also increased manifold and now, special emphasis is being laid on building massive infrastructure for all of them.
Raman Suri said, inclement weather conditions during rainy or winter season, many-a-times, trigger landslides thereby snapping road links to Kashmir but once the railways start their operations here, tourists will be able to reach Kashmir round the year. The BJP leader said that the entire rail route from Jammu to Srinagar and Baramulla is scenic and offers visitors with a unique experience in all weather conditions. Vistadome and other facilities are going to be the star attraction for tourists, whose numbers are likely to increase manifold in months to come.
It is very likely that the trial run between Sangaldan and Reasi will be completed in a month's time and after that, the first train will run on this track and take passengers to Kashmir, which will also be an attraction for foreign tourists, Raman Suri said, adding that passing over the world's highest arch railway bridge will be a marvel to watch. The spirit of locals was worth witnessing when, for the first-time, the electric engine reached Reasi after crossing the Chenab Arch Bridge. People welcomed it with patriotic slogans and, with slogans in favour of Indian Railways and its engineers, who have given to Jammu and Kashmir an engineering marvel.
Raman Suri said, for Northern Railways, completion of this section of the ambitious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project is going to be a great achievement. Suri also congratulated Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of State PMO Dr Jitender Singh for the successful trial run over the world’s highest rail bridge and said that it could happen only under the BJP government as our Prime Minister believes in delivering projects well on time. His special concern for J&K is visible by the fact that he has sanctioned multi-crore infrastructural projects for J&K, which, in years to come, will make our UT blink on the international maps. Officially, it is likely that the first train between Sangaldan and Reasi will be flagged off on June 30, 2024.