Rail services in the Kashmir Valley resumed fully on Sunday — more than three months after being suspended due to security reasons — as the train chugged from Srinagar to Banihal through the restive south Kashmir, officials said.
The train passes through Srinagar station and the stations in south Kashmir before reaching Banihal.
A railway official said that “rail service in the Valley fully resumed this morning as the train chugged from Baramulla towards Banihal”. The official said there was only one run scheduled for Sunday, while the train would make two runs on a daily basis from Monday.
The Railways conducted a trial run on Sunday morning before the actual service started, he added.
Rail service in the Valley had partially resumed on Tuesday as the train chugged in the Baramulla-Srinagar stretch. The authorities have directed the Railways to ply the trains between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. only due to security reasons, the official said.
The train service in the Kashmir valley was suspended due to security reasons on August 3 ahead of the Centre’s announcement of abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile State into two Union Territories.
The weekly flea market here, meanwhile, witnessed a huge rush of customers, official said.
They said markets remained open around noon, after which shopkeepers downed their shutters to join the protest against the abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Few mini-buses have started plying on some routes in the city and elsewhere in the Valley, the officials said, adding, cabs and autorickshaws were also plying.
They said private transport was plying unhindered in the city in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley.
