Kashmir Airport goes international, Sonia flags also off train to Baramulla,

  Srinagar,Febury 14 – The UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi today received the first international flight from Dubai which arrived at the newly-refurbished Srinagar International Airport in Kashmir. She also inaugurated the new integrated airport terminal building which is having modern passenger-friendly facilities.

            The UPA Chairperson also inaugurated the 35-km Mazhom-Baramulla rail section of the prestigious Udhampur-Baramulla Railway Project by flagging off the train between Baramulla and Mazhom.

            Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, Union Minister for Railways,. Lalu Prasad, Union Minister for Water Resources, Saif-ud-Din Soz, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office, Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Ministers, Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, Ministers, Mr. Abdul Rahim Rather, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Nawang Rigzin Jora, legislators, Mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr. Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, senior officers, prominent citizens and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

             The inauguration of the international airport at Srinagar marks a new epoch in the aviation history of Jammu and Kashmir . It heralds a new beginning in the air transportation link between the beautiful valley and the country and outside. It would be a major boost to the tourism sector as visitors from here and outside would get direct air connectivity from Srinagar .

            The airport had been declared international by the Government of India in 2005 and the work on its up-gradation and refurbishing of the terminal building started soon after. The new integrated terminal building has been beautifully designed keeping in view the environs of the valley. Spread over an area of about 20,000 sq. mtrs, the building has central heating and air conditioning, besides flight information display system, CCTV for surveillance, checking counters, baggage carousals, public address system, departure conveyor system and capacity to handle 500 domestic and 450 international passengers.

            The building has 16 check-in counters, 8 baggage scanners, 16 immigration and 8 custom counters besides four conveyor belts. The expansion of the apron has been designed to cater for parking of nine aircrafts and strengthening it for parking B-747- type aircrafts.

            The 35-km long Mazhom-Baramulla rail section forms part of the Qazigund-Baramulla railway line and has 5 major and 206 minor bridges, besides one road over bridge. It connects Pattan, Hamre, Sopore and Baramulla towns with the existing railway network in the valley. The stretch of rail link has two level crossings which are interlocked and manned with telephone communication. The speed potential of this line is 100 km per hour and two pairs of DEMU service have been introduced in the first phase. A prodigious amount of Rs. 2,551 crore has been incurred on the Qazigund-Baramulla railway link up to end of December last.

            The passenger response to the introduction of railway in the valley has been gratifying and more than 85,000 passengers avail this facility every month. Unreserved ticketing system terminals have been provided at Anantnag, Awantipora and Srinagar for the convenience of the passengers, who also opt for monthly season tickets and quarterly season tickets in good numbers.