‘Rail infra expanded rapidly in 10 years under PM Modi’

Jammu: With Kashmir set to get connected with the rest of the country through rail link anytime soon, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said the railway infrastructure recorded rapid expansion in the past 10 years across the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a function organised at the Jammu railway station to mark the inauguration of the Jammu railway division by PM Narendra Modi, Singh said Kashmir is getting connected by train very soon, fulfilling a long-lived dream.

The BJP MP from Udhampur also raised a question mark on the delay of over five decades in extending the railway line from Jammu to Kashmir Valley, as he urged people to celebrate the creation of the Jammu division for the bright future of their children.

“The first train will go from here to Kashmir (very soon), giving a new impetus to business, industry and tourism besides creating new job opportunities in the region. Modi Ji has done it for us, in a realistic way,” Singh said.

“Many elderly people will remember that exactly 53 years ago in 1972, a train arrived at the Jammu railway station. So the question that arises is what took so long to extend the service to Kashmir,” he said.

“In the past five decades, many govts came and went. Someday, this delay in extending service to Kashmir will be a subject of discussion. Were the priorities different or the earlier governments did not have the willpower?