Ahead of the inauguration of the long-awaited railway line to Kashmir, a controversy has emerged regarding the requirement for passengers to deboard at Katra and board a different train for their onward journey to Delhi. This has dampened enthusiasm for the service.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed objections to this arrangement. He said that it undermines the very purpose of the train link and the substantial investment made in the project.
“While we understand the need to secure the train and the passengers who will travel using it, making passengers change trains will defeat the very purpose of the line and render the thousands of crores of investment pointless,” he posted on X. He urged the railway authorities to consider alternative security measures that would not disrupt the convenience of seamless travel.
“Check the train passengers in Katra or Jammu, sure, but no change of train will be supported by us,” Abdullah said. “That said, there is no concrete proposal yet, and when there is, we will give our inputs and suggestions.”
He said if there were security concerns, there should be no objections. “After all, whoever travels by train wishes for their safety and security, and so do we,” he said.
However, the chief minister said safety measures should not undermine the connectivity benefits that the railway project promises.
He said that until the region achieves complete normalcy, such measures should be acceptable but should not defeat the purpose of the railway link. “Safety must come first, but convenience cannot be ignored,” he said.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has also criticised the decision to force passengers to change trains at Katra for their onward journey. PDP General Secretary Mohammad Khurshid Alam issued a statement expressing concern that this decision would undermine the promise of convenience for the people of Kashmir.
"For years, we were told that train services to Kashmir would benefit the common masses and ease travel. This latest directive proves that Kashmiris are far from experiencing travel convenience. The train services, inaugurated amid great fanfare, are turning out to be nothing more than a facade," Alam said.
The Kashmir railway project, declared a national project by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002, has seen an investment of over Rs43,000 crore over more than 20 years.
As the debate continues, the railway line to Kashmir, once a symbol of integration and progress, now faces questions about how it can balance security, efficiency, and convenience for its passengers.
