Feeling bored this winter? Do you want to get out and have a taste of heavenly beauty? Then wait no more, as the Baramulla Banihal train is your one-stop shop for the heavenly experience of the snow-capped mountains in the scenic valley of Kashmir.
‘If there is heaven on this earth, it is this; it is this, none but this.’
This quote from a Persian book on Kashmir couldn’t have been more apt today. Recently, the Railways Minister Piyush Goyal shared a tweet on his official Twitter account, describing the beauty of the railway line between the Baramulla and Banihal, as shown below:-
Winter is Coming: Take a glimpse at the Baramulla-Banihal Train that cuts through some of Kashmir's most magical & scenic landscapes in India's Icy North, offering passengers a surreal experience like no other pic.twitter.com/kKBML0wPdL
— Piyush Goyal (मोदी का परिवार) (@PiyushGoyal) December 19, 2018
According to this video tweet, the Railways has announced a special tour package for the Kashmir Valley, which runs through the train line that connects Baramulla in Kashmir Valley to Banihal, passing through the summer capital of J&K, i.e. Srinagar. The breath taking view of the snow capped mountains in Kashmir Valley, especially in the winter season, is something that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also helps life in the Kashmir Valley to go on undeterred.
This is so because during the winter season, the continuous snowfall blocks the roadways that normally connect Kashmir Valley to the rest of India. Even the airways are not of much use, because of the lack of abundant airports in the valley. As such, the rail line between Baramulla and Banihal is of great use not only for the tourists, but also the normal residents of the valley.
Besides, the scenic beauty that one witnesses between Baramulla and Banihal is something not even the beauties in the snow capped Alps could match. Thanks to the brilliance of the Indian railways, and as quoted in the video itself, ‘Neither the human life nor the railways come to a standstill.’ Given that construction of rail networks in the mountainous region from Kashmir Valley is far from a cakewalk, this is nothing less than an accomplishment in both engineering and the aesthetic beauty that is a natural gift of the Kashmir Valley.
It was to this very purpose that the railway line between Baramulla and Banihal was opened in 2009 itself, which runs through a 119 km. long tunnel. This is the third leg of the much-talked-about Jammu – Baramulla line, which is expected to be completed in 2021, now that the Central Government has decided to fast-track the completion of the rail line.
We hope that the tourists, who wish to have an enriching experience of the scenic snowfall in the Kashmir Valley, will not leave the valley without a nice suitcase of memories.