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| Kashmir Valley |
As we reach the month of March, this year Kashmir Valley
in India is anticipated to be connected to Jammu through a 17.8-km railway line
including the 11.2-km Pir Panjal tunnel, which is the country’s longest
transport tunnel. This tunnel will also be the second largest tunnel of Asia.
The commissioning of this section will provide
connectivity throughout the year and reduce travel time. The total distance
between Banihal in Jammu to Qazigund in Kashmir Valley will then be covered in
20-25 minutes, stated State-owned Ircon International. At present, it takes
about an hour to cover the distance by road, which gets blocked due to snowfall
during peak winter.
The strategically important tunnel is likely to be opened
for public in March, Ircon’s Director (Works) Hitesh Khanna said.
On December 28, Ircon completed the track work from
Qazigund to Banihal across the Pir Panjal range through Tunnel T-80 and brought
the first train on trial run from Kashmir Valley to Banihal, said a release.
The rail-link project between the two places, with a cost
of Rs 1,670 crore, is part of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway-link project.
Ircon has been the principal executing agency for Northern Railway for this
project, an agreement for which was signed in 2004. The work includes planning,
survey, design and construction of the entire project.
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