Baramullah:
The Prime Minister began his two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday. He inaugurated the crucial Qazigund rail link here.
After nine years of wait another crucial part of the Kashmir train line - between Qazigund and Baramullah - is complete, connecting South Kashmir to its north.
This is now the fastest way to travel across the Kashmir Valley: Two hours as against the four hour travel by road.
"This will connect us to every state. It will bring profits. If sending goods in trucks costs Rs 10,000, on a train it will cost just Rs 2,000," said Ali Muhammad, a Qazigund resident.
The line is complete, but the project is not.
Now Baramulla and Qazigund are connected at one end and Katra and Jammu on the other. But the most crucial part - 70 kilometres in between connecting Qazigund to Katra - is underway. It's a route that passes through the steep Pir Panjal Mountains.
The project is an engineering marvel of sorts.
Once built, the 290 kilometre track will boast of 750 rail bridges and hundreds of kilometres of tunnels.
The longest tunnel is 11 kilometres, the highest rail bridge is at 359 metres, and the longest bridge will be 1,315 metres long across Chenab River.
At one point in the Pir Panjal Mountains the track is built at 11,000 feet. The project deadline is 2017.
"The whole area is mountainous and there are a number of tunnels. This area has deep gorges, rivers like Chenab and Alji, and bridges that are very high," said Hari Shankar Yadav, the chief engineer.
Travelling in this train is a dream come true for every Kashmiri. Once the Prime Minister flags it off, it will run from South to North Kashmir connecting the entire Kashmir valley. Now the big question is how much time will it take to get connected with the rest of the Indian Railway network.