The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, today dedicated to the nation, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Udhampur railway line.
The Prime Minister flagged off the first train to Udhampur, from Katra Railway Station, and spoke to schoolchildren on board the train. The train was flagged off amid vociferous chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" by the children.
The Prime Minister also went around the Railway Station and suggested that solar energy be used to meet the energy requirements of the station. Let Katra Railway Station be an environment-friendly, people-friendly railway station that inspires the use of solar energy, Shri Modi said.
Later addressing a public function at Katra, the Prime Minister observed that with the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, and the holy month of Ramzan, and now this new railway line that brings Shri Mata Vaishno Devi closer to her devotees, it has become an extremely pious occasion. This railway line is not just a gift to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Modi said, but to the entire nation, to 125 crore Indians who wish to come to the shrine, and I am proud to be placing this gift before them, he said. He added that he had suggested to the Railway Minister that this train be called Shri Shakti Express.
Prime Minister also congratulated the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for facilities and technology used at the railway station for the benefit of the devotees. The Prime Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir`s development will continue unhindered. And even with the new railway station at Katra, it will in fact be a more qualitative development.
The Prime Minister said his Government would work towards a common development model for Himalayan states from Jammu and Kashmir to the north-east.
The Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri N.N. Vohra, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Shri Omar Abdullah, the Minister for Railways, Shri Sadananda Gowda, the MoS Railways, Shri Manoj Sinha, the MoS PMO Shri Jitendra Singh, and Shri Arunendra Kumar were present on the occasion.
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