Omkar Dattatray
They say first deserve ,then desire and it has universal application and this phrase aptly fits so for as the granting and creation of Railway Division Jammu (JRD) is concerned.
The creation of the Railway Division in Jammu was the long and genuine demand of the Jammuties and Modi government has now fulfilled this demand ,need and necessity of having a Railway Division in Jammu and there is a rationale behind having a Railway Division .Under the minister-ship of Ashwani Vaishnav the government of India through railway ministry has granted approval to Jammu railway division .It is in fact the new year gift/bonanza and boon to Jammuties and it will lead to much needed job creation and it will cater to the needs and rush of the people and pilgrim tourists to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine as well as boost to economic ,social and cultural development of J&K and there is no exaggeration in this observation.
It will also result in national and societal integration. .Jammu Railway station is one of the oldest railway stations of northern railway and now with the creation of Jammu railway division ,the people of Jammu and Kashmir are jubilant and they are welcoming this boon of Modi Sarkar to Jammu and in the days to come it will prove its usefulness and utility to Jammu and Kashmir.
The newly carved out Railway Division will include five sections -Bhogpur Sriwal-Pathankot, Batala-Pathankot, Pathankot-Joginder-Martyr Capitan Tushar Mahajan Udhampur Railway Station and Srinagar -Baramulla.
J&K gets ready for Railway Boost as PM Modi to inaugurate New Railway Division on January 6. This will end the dependence of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Pathankot area of Punjab on the Firozpur division.
As the direct train from Delhi to Kashmir becomes a reality ,the government of India is preparing to grant Jammu a new railway division when PM Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the office of Divisional Railway Manager -DRM on January 6.
In this connection a function was held outside the platform area of Jammu railway station in which Minister of State MoS in prime minister’s office– PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, Member Parliament Jammu Jugal Kishore Sharma, and others attended the event. Around 4000 to 5000 people participated the path-breaking function.”
All the decisions are taken at a divisional level regarding railways, and earlier people of J&K, HP, and Pathankot had to go to Firozpur for that purpose. But now all work of the division will be taken from here ,”said ADRM .Jammu will be the sixth railway division of the northern railways zone after Delhi ,Ambala ,Lucknow ,Moradabad ,and Firozpur. The Railway division works under railway zone ,and there are 19 zones across India .The divisions are the subcategories of Zones ,and each division is run by a Divisional Manager -DRM .The DRM is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the division band has to report to general manager of his zone. Now after the inauguration ,Jammu railway station will also get a new look ,and already work is underway to extend the platform capacities of Jammu Railway Station from three to seven .For undergoing overhaul and extension ,Jammu railway station is being closed for seven days from 8th of January .”All the existing buildings will be dismantled and new infrastructure will come up here ,”Rajiv Kumar Singh said .Railway minister Ashwani Vaishnu inaugurated Jammu railway division physically on 6th January 2025.Meanwhile ,northern railways have issued a train operation plan for the Kashmir valley for the winter periods in which they have included three new trains from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra -SMVDK to Srinagar ,which will include a Vande Bharat train and two Mail Express trains that will be running daily .As per the chart issued by the northern railways ,the Vande Bharat train will be leaving from Katra at 8.10 am and will be reaching Srinagar at 11.20 am ,the Mail Express train will be leaving Katra at 9.50 am and will reach Srinagar at 1.10 pm ,and another Mail Express train will leave Katra at 3pm and will be reaching Srinagar at6.20 pm .The newly carved out Railway Division will includes five sections ,was inaugurated virtually by PM Modi on January 6,2025.Ahead of it ,railway authorities ran a special inspection train between Jammu and Srinagar on Sunday ,marking a historic milestone for Jammu and Kashmir .The section will span to a combined distance of 742.1kms .Presently ,Jammu falls under the Ferozpur division of Northern Railways zone .In 2014 ,the Railway Ministry had decided to establish three additional divisions. Along with Jammu ,the other two were Gulberga in Karnataka and Silchar in Assam. It however ,took railways authorities a good five years to form a committee to assess its feasibility and financial implications .Union Minister railways Ashwani Vaishnaw did inspection of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link-USBRL section .”Special inspection train between Jammu and Kashmir was put out from Udhampur on January 5,”The Commissioner of Railway Safety -CRS also carried out the safety inspection of the Katra-Reasi section on January 7 and 8.The 272-kilometre long USBRL was sanctioned in 1994-1995 decades ago with an anticipated cost of Rs 37,012 crore. .However ,the region’s uncertainty and topographical conditions hindered the expected progress of the project .The USBRL Project includes 38 tunnels with T-39 tunnel ,emerging as longest tunnel in India ,stretching 12.75 kms .Prithvi Raj Gupta ,former general secretary of CCI Jammu said that business community wholeheartedly welcomed the setting up of a Jammu railway division .”It had been a long -standing demand of Jammu .It will benefit the region, ”he said .Gupta ,however said that the government must develop the region in a way ”that encourage tourists to stay longer in Jammu .The inauguration of the newly -created Jammu Railway division, meeting a long-pending demand ,comes ahead of the lunch of the much-awaited and publicized direct train service to Kashmir by or before January 26 this year.PM Modi virtually inaugurated the new Jammu Railway Division from the national capital.PM inaugurated Jammu Railway Division through video-conferencing besides laying the foundation of the Rayagada Railway Division in Odisha and inaugurated Charlapalli New Terminal Station in Telangana by remote from New Delhi during same function at around 12.30 pm on 6th January .In Jammu the function was attended and graced by LG Manoj Sinha, CM Omar Abdullah and member parliament ,Jammu ,Jugal Kishore Sharma, MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh ,besides the General Manager ,Northern Railways and other senior officers .Ahead of the virtual inauguration of the Jammu Railway Division by the PM ,the Union Minister Railways came to Srinagar by air .On January 5,2024 ,the minister for Railways inspected USBRL section and Srinagar Railway Station .On the same date a special inspection train ran from Srinagar to Jammu. Meanwhile CRS visited on January 7 and 8 ,2025 for safety inspection of the Katra -Reasi section of the USBRL ,Project. Jammu Railway Division ,with its headquarters at Jammu has been created by restructuring Firozpur Division .JCCI President Arun Gupta points out that Jammu Railway Division will not only streamline the running of trains but will also open new avenues of employment for the local youth. Jammu Railway Division is the 69th Division of the Indian Railways. The Jammu Railway Division will not only boost passenger movement but also will significantly enhance trade and logistics in the region .The creation of a Divisional Headquarters in Jammu will bring administrative efficiency and strategic oversight ,which is essential given the expanding scope of railway operations. In brief granting of Railway Division to Jammu is really a boon for Jammu and Kashmir as it will lead to socio-economic and cultural development in near future. So we should thank Modi government for this historic milestone which has been given to us as a new year bonanza.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)