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Modi to flag off first train from Katra today

M Post Bureau
New Delhi: After a prolonged wait, pilgrims will be able to directly reach Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, by rail after prime minister Narendra Modi flags off the first train from the station nestled in Trikuta Hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Thursday.
The train for Jammu will chug along the newly constructed line from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Station after Modi along with Railway minister Sadananda Gowda waves the green flag.
The train will traverse through seven tunnels and over 30 small and large bridges. There will be a small station — Chakrakhwal — between Udhampur and Katra. The 25 km long Udhampur-Katra line, which will be commissioned on Friday after prolonged delays, has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,132.75 crore.
Trains will be able to reach Katra directly as the 53-km Jammu-Udhampur rail line is already operational and now the Udhampur-Katra line, which is a part of the Kashmir rail link project, is being commissioned. This would enable pilgrims headed to the Vaishno Devi shrine to travel directly to the base camp at Katra. ‘Till now there are three local train services between Jammu and Udhampur and all these will now be extended to Katra,’ said a senior official.

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