“Happiness is just a train ride away”

With the inception of Vande Bharat in valley, the quote above seems to be true for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 15 February 2015, the day of commencement of first Vande Bharat Express marked a revolutionary day not only for the Indian Railways but also for the entire Nation.  Before the Vande Bharat, the 4th largest Railway network of the world after the USA, China and Russia, was more or less languishing in the Colonial Era. Since the inception of the Railways in India in 1837 till 2019, the development of Railways has snail paced with hardly any meteoric advancement.  

As part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Vande Bharat has transformed the train journey while bringing the features at par with air travel and enhancing the aspects of safety, comfort and faster travel manifold. The facilities that it rolls out to its passengers include CCTV cameras, automatic doors, smoke alarms, odour control system, bio-vacuum toilets, roller blinds, sensor based water taps and a maximum operating speed of 160 kmph. As on January 2025, 66 Vande Bharat trains are in service.

Since Independence, the government has initiated various measures for the welfare and development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir but the efforts and attempts have been constrained by the lack of connectivity, primarily due to the difficult and harsh terrain. The connectivity with the rest of India and even Jammu was limited to an arduous road journey and expensive air travel, both subject to the vagaries of weather. Lack of inexpensive and all weather connectivity has adversely impacted the people in all spheres of life and has been a prime cause of sluggish development vis-a-vis other states of the country. The external interference combined with lack of connectivity, have denied the much deserved opportunities for a better life to the people of Valley.

The commencement of Vande Bharat will open multiple avenues of development for the people of Jammu and Kashmir which incorporates boost to tourism, growth of the industries, infrastructure and economic development as well as all-weather connectivity. It will provide an alternative to Jammu Srinagar highway which is prone to frequent closures. More economical than the air transport and faster than the road transport with negligible chances of shutdown, therefore it will give enormous boost to the tourism sector. Concurrently, it has also paved way for numerous infrastructure projects and created employment opportunities for the youth. It will facilitate the people of Kashmir with easy access to various institutes, facilities and job opportunities in Jammu and other parts of the country.

The government has sanctioned Rupees 41,119/- crore for Udhampur – Srinagar – Baramulla Rail Link) and has also carried out expansion of Jammu – Srinagar Highway using tunnels, bridges, thereby creating multiple options for connectivity. The USBRL project was also declared as the National project by the government, highlighting its significance and ensuring focused attention and resources. The trials of Vande Bharat have been successful and the government has pushed-in all efforts to commence the services at the earliest.

The commencement of Vande Bharat has created fretfulness in our neighbourhood. Their false propaganda and narrative is falling apart with every passing day due to the development measures of the government. The Vande Bharat will be the last nail in the coffin of their false propaganda which has blind folded few people of ours over the last few years. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have now realised the importance of development and its impact on their future generations. With Kashmir picking up pace towards prosperity, our neighbours are likely to create some nuisance to disrupt the development activities and justify their false narrative and propaganda.

Hampering Kashmir’s progress and denying them of their dues by creating a toxic environment has been their modus operandi since the last few decades. Case in point being the Burhan Wani incident wherein the local populace, from the farmers to the people involved in tourism have suffered greatly during that time. But, the people of Kashmir have now woken up to the reality and have out rightly rejected their ill-conceived propaganda and have whole heartedly given their full support to the government for achieving the singular aim of development of the people of Kashmir. In a nutshell, the Vande Bharat will be a boon for the people of Kashmir in all aspects and will pave the way for their prosperous and glorious time ahead.