First train service for troubled Kashmir

11/10/2008 19:55:51

Indian Kashmir's first train service has been flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from Srinagar.

Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and federal railways minister Lalu Prasad Yadav were also present during the tightly-guarded ceremony.

The 117-kilometre link will connect the town of Baramulla in the north with Qazigund in the south and, eventually, should be integrated into India's massive national rail network.

For the moment, only a 66-kilometre stretch is ready to be used.

The inaugural train is the fruit of an eight-year project that had to overcome the twin challenges of tough terrain and separatist violence.

Thousands of police and federal paramilitary soldiers patrolled Srinagar's streets as shops, schools and offices remained closed after a separatist group urged a strike to protest the visit.

Produced by Radio Australia and Australia Network