Four and a half months after the hanging of Afzal Guru, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will extend an olive branch to the Kashmir valley by inaugurating the 17.7 km railway line from Banihal to Quazigund. The line will realise the 114-year-old dream of connecting Kashmir valley with Jammu and enable a much reduced travel time of approximately 20-25 minutes.
In what will be his first-ever visit to Kashmir since Guru’s execution, Singh will ‘dedicate’ the rail link to the people - which includes the country’s longest transportation tunnel through the Pir Panjal range. The 11.2 km long tunnel – called the T-80 or the Pir Panjal tunnel – has been constructed using the New Austrian Tunnel Method (NATM) for the first time. The Prime Minister’s visit is tentatively scheduled for June 25.
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