<b>A TALE OF MANY PMs AND A TRAIN</b> <!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo-->
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076217
<b>Indian policemen patrol guard the Jammu-Udhampur railway track on the outskirts of Jammu. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
UDHAMPUR (J-K): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged-off a 52-km train service through the Himalayas from Jammu to Udhampur on Wednesday, exactly 22 years after Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the ambitious railway project.
The project has seen eight prime ministers come and go before it finally took shape, crossing many geological hurdles and shortage of funds.
It was a rainy day in April 1983 when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, protected by a large umbrella, laid the foundation stone for the Rs 520 million ($12 million) Jammu-Udhampur rail link.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076218
<b>An Indian policeman stands guard inside a railway tunnel on the outskirts of Jammu. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
She heard the loud complaint of then chief minister Farooq Abdullah that "the centre announces projects, but never completes those in time".
Gandhi, who had by that time decided that her Congress party was not going to have any alliance with Abdullah's National Conference in the June 1983 assembly elections, retorted: "You take it from me, and I assure all of you that this train would be running on time in five years from now."
A rain-drenched crowd cheered the announcement. And the dream of the first train to the Himalayas took off.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076219
<b>The train covering a 54 km journey would pass through 20 tunnels and over 100 bridges. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
Five years later in 1988, Indira Gandhi's son and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi came to the state to commission the first phase of the Salal hydroelectric project in Udhampur district.
He was addressing a rally in the town of Reasi when state Congress chief Ghulam Rasool Kar commented, "I would be delighted if my grandchildren would see the train run."
After all, the five-year deadline had passed and the rail link was still in its infancy, managing only Rs.10 million to Rs 20 million a year from the railway ministry.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076221
<b>A train enters a tunnel during a trial run at Udhampur. Once extended, the train link will connect Srinagar with rest of the country by 2008. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
Rajiv Gandhi took up the bait and promised, pointing towards Kar: "Kar Sahib, this train will run in your lifetime, and you will board it." The words, which met with huge applause, have proved prophetic. Kar is in his eighties and has indeed lived to see the train chugging through the mountain passes.
Two prime ministers, V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar, did not visit Jammu and Kashmir. And Congress' P V Narasimha Rao did visit the state for the 1996 parliamentary elections, but never travelled to Udhampur to say a word on the train.
His successors H D Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral did speak out, promising that the rail link would be extended to the valley. But still the train to Udhampur did not steam in.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076262
<b>The final trial run of Jammu-Udhampur rail link was conducted on saturday. The service was flagged-off by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)</b>
And then came Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who did not make any commitments, but enhanced the allocation of funds for the project.
Well, the rail line, which negotiates some sharp curves and boasts of more than 150 bridges and 20 tunnels through some of the most beautiful parts of the state, is ready.
And it falls on Vajpayee's successor Manmohan Singh to launch the train linking the two halves of Jammu and Kashmir, just as he flagged off the bus service connecting the two Kashmirs just six days ago
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076217
<b>Indian policemen patrol guard the Jammu-Udhampur railway track on the outskirts of Jammu. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
UDHAMPUR (J-K): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged-off a 52-km train service through the Himalayas from Jammu to Udhampur on Wednesday, exactly 22 years after Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the ambitious railway project.
The project has seen eight prime ministers come and go before it finally took shape, crossing many geological hurdles and shortage of funds.
It was a rainy day in April 1983 when the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, protected by a large umbrella, laid the foundation stone for the Rs 520 million ($12 million) Jammu-Udhampur rail link.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076218
<b>An Indian policeman stands guard inside a railway tunnel on the outskirts of Jammu. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
She heard the loud complaint of then chief minister Farooq Abdullah that "the centre announces projects, but never completes those in time".
Gandhi, who had by that time decided that her Congress party was not going to have any alliance with Abdullah's National Conference in the June 1983 assembly elections, retorted: "You take it from me, and I assure all of you that this train would be running on time in five years from now."
A rain-drenched crowd cheered the announcement. And the dream of the first train to the Himalayas took off.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076219
<b>The train covering a 54 km journey would pass through 20 tunnels and over 100 bridges. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
Five years later in 1988, Indira Gandhi's son and then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi came to the state to commission the first phase of the Salal hydroelectric project in Udhampur district.
He was addressing a rally in the town of Reasi when state Congress chief Ghulam Rasool Kar commented, "I would be delighted if my grandchildren would see the train run."
After all, the five-year deadline had passed and the rail link was still in its infancy, managing only Rs.10 million to Rs 20 million a year from the railway ministry.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076221
<b>A train enters a tunnel during a trial run at Udhampur. Once extended, the train link will connect Srinagar with rest of the country by 2008. (Photo: Reuters)</b>
Rajiv Gandhi took up the bait and promised, pointing towards Kar: "Kar Sahib, this train will run in your lifetime, and you will board it." The words, which met with huge applause, have proved prophetic. Kar is in his eighties and has indeed lived to see the train chugging through the mountain passes.
Two prime ministers, V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar, did not visit Jammu and Kashmir. And Congress' P V Narasimha Rao did visit the state for the 1996 parliamentary elections, but never travelled to Udhampur to say a word on the train.
His successors H D Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral did speak out, promising that the rail link would be extended to the valley. But still the train to Udhampur did not steam in.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo...id=1076262
<b>The final trial run of Jammu-Udhampur rail link was conducted on saturday. The service was flagged-off by Prime Minster Manmohan Singh on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)</b>
And then came Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who did not make any commitments, but enhanced the allocation of funds for the project.
Well, the rail line, which negotiates some sharp curves and boasts of more than 150 bridges and 20 tunnels through some of the most beautiful parts of the state, is ready.
And it falls on Vajpayee's successor Manmohan Singh to launch the train linking the two halves of Jammu and Kashmir, just as he flagged off the bus service connecting the two Kashmirs just six days ago
Cheers <!--emo&:beer--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cheers.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='cheers.gif' /><!--endemo-->