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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Wednesday flagged off the first train connecting Banihal in Jammu region with Qazigund in the Kashmir Valley.
The newly constructed station in Banihal, 125 km from summer capital Srinagar, was decked up with flowers and garlands to receive the VVIPs for flagging off the first train, which passed through the 11-km tunnel through Pir Panjal range.
The eight-coach train carrying school children and officials of IRCON and the Railways reached Qazigund in 25 minutes. The Banihal-Qazigund section, which includes an 11-km long tunnel, the country’s longest, reduces the 35 km distance to 18 km.
It has been constructed at a cost of Rs 1,691 crore.
The Prime Minister and Gandhi boarded the train before its departure and interacted with the school children. They returned to Banihal from the new tunnel.
