Riding on hope and history

Hundred and fiftysix years after India got its first train, the Kashmir valley is going to get its maiden train that will chug through the entire 119-km route connecting southern end of Kashmir (Qazigund) with its northern end (Baramulla) when the last 19-km stretch between Anantnag and Qazigund opens soon for passenger use, writes Ehsan Fazili from Srinagar

Nine years after the inception of the first-ever rail project in the Kashmir valley, the first train on the entire 119-km Baramulla and Qazigund rail track is ready to chug soon.

Though still not connected to the rest of the country, the first train operation in Kashmir, the 66-km-long rail line from Anantnag to Mazhom, was flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 11, 2008, while in February this year, in the second phase the 34-km-long Mazhgom-Baramulla rail track was inaugurated by Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The last stretch of 19 km between Anantnag and Qazigund in south Kashmir will be thrown open soon for passenger use, following a successful trial run in the first week of August.

The train – a harbinger of good times in the trouble-torn paradise — has already changed the lives of the people of the Valley. It has shortened long distances for many to reach their workplaces, while for others it has brought better livelihood prospects by saving time and money.

Hope and joy are writ large on the faces of many people who have already travelled on the 100-km stretch between Baramulla in north Kashmir and Anantnag in the south through the Srinagar and Budgam areas of central Kashmir. For those who had their maiden journey on the train, it is like a dream come true.

The train — a harbinger of good times in the trouble-torn paradise — has already changed the lives of the people of the Valley. — Photos: Mohammad Amin War

Mohammad Ashraf, an engineer who boards the train from Mazhom for his office in Baramulla every morning, recalls his maiden train journey from Jammu to Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, as an NCC cadet. There was a delightful lack of awareness about trains, in general, about 25 years back. "Then it seemed unbelievable to have train service in Kashmir," he recalls. Reminiscing, he says, " When the train stopped at Panipat, two of us got down and started eating at a dhaba on the platform. When our train started chugging, we thought it was a whistle from another train as there were many trains at the station."

Somehow, they managed to board the train, but in some other coach. Looking around in panic he caught the sight of the inscription "Pull the chain to stop train". He thought it to be an easy way to reach to their compartment. But a friendly stranger advised him not to do so and drew his attention to other lines on the inscription. Ashraf attributes this "innocence" to the fact that there was no train in Kashmir.

Now, not more than quarter of a century after that, boarding a train is not a novelty anymore for him, and several others who board the train from other stations almost daily for over a month now. "I prefer it for good services, cheap rates and comfortable journey compared to road transport", adds Ashraf.

With the regular train service Mohammad Maqbool, a government employee, has now started commuting daily between Baramulla and Pulwama. Earlier he used to live in a rented house in Pulwama and only visit home at the weekends.

Similarly, Abdul Rehman, also from Baramulla, commutes to his office in Srinagar every day, like hundreds others from across the Valley to the summer capital. But, like many others, he feels there continues to be the problem of approach road and linking transport facility from the Nowgam station.

Most of the approach roads are yet to be upgraded, even as the Railways have made the payment for approach roads to the state government.

But whatever the teething troubles, many go for the experience the train trip for its "cheap and comfortable" services while the journey across scenic surroundings through vast paddy fields, dotted by poplar and willow trees, apart from apple orchards in the north is an added bonus.

A group of friends from a distant village of south Kashmir, a group of students or a family waiting for over a couple of hours outside the railway station at Nowgam, Srinagar — these have become usual scenes at the railway station since the train services were launched. Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Dethoo, and two of his neighbours have been eagerly waiting "to have an experience of the train journey".

"My children were keen to have this experience," said Bhupinder Singh, who was waiting with his family for the train to Anantnag.

"This is not just a joyride but the most convenient and cheapest mode of transport in the Valley", say Railway officials, adding that there was a positive response from the public.

Since the train services were launched in October last year, there has been an ever-increasing response with more and more people making use of it. On an average it caters to more than 5,000 passengers, most of them commuters between Anantnag, Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla.

There are morning and evening services between Budgam and Baramulla, and four trains between Anantnag and Budgam, with Anantnag topping as the destination getting the maximum number of passengers at 38 per cent, followed by Baramulla and Srinagar catering to 26, 19 and 17 per cent of passengers, respectively.

"This is the cheapest and fastest mode of transport between the three major destinations," say officials at Budgam that serves as a main yard in the Valley. It takes one hour and 15 minutes from Srinagar to Baramulla and over an hour from Srinagar to Anantnag. "We have the maximum sale of tickets on Saturday and Sundays" claim the officials.

"All eyes are now on the connecting link between Qazigund and Udhampur. Once that is open, most people will never prefer to travel by road between Srinagar and Jammu," opines another officer.

The rail link connecting Jammu with the Kashmir valley was first decided by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1882. But the construction work on the project started only a century later in 1994. The work on the rail link connecting Jammu with Udhampur started in 1984 that was completed in 2005.

The project linking Kashmir with the country’s railway network was declared as national project by the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during his visit to Kashmir in July, 2002. The project, between Udhampur and Baramulla, having a distance of 148 km, was estimated at a cost of Rs 11,270 crore. The major portion of the project, around 119 km, lies in the Kashmir valley. Of this 66 km became operational after its inauguration last year between Anantnag and Rajwansher (Mazhom). Later, it was completed to a length of 100 km up to Baramulla. The remaining 19 km between Qazigund and Anantnag are being completed by next month. With this, there would be an addition of two railway stations of Sadura and Qazigund increasing the number of stations to 15.

An area of 17,189 kanal in the Valley has been covered under the construction of railway line and different stations. This land, consisting of paddy fields, apple and almond orchards and having other commercial use, belonged to 4,063 families, says Abdul Gaffer Sofi, chairman of the Kisan Railway Association.

"The government of India had promised to give compensation and a job to each family, whose land was acquired", he adds. Sofi, a former minister and an MLA belonging to the PDP, representing Homeshalibugh in the Kulgam district of south Kashmir, says a job to a member of each family and some compensation was still awaited.

The train may have brought unhappiness for this small number of people; however, for the rest, it is the start of a journey to a prosperous future.

To sum up in words of Muhammad Shafi, a trader in Srinagar, "The train in Kashmir is going to be a milestone for our economy though its impact will definitely take some time to register with the local people."