Rail service in North Kashmir suspended for security reasons

Srinagar, Feb 16: Train service has been suspended for security reasons on Friday in north Kashmir, where an encounter ensued between militants holed up in a house and security forces this morning.

However, trains in south Kashmir were running normally, a railway official told.
He said as encounter ensued in Palhalan area of Baramulla district, an advisory was received this morning to suspend all train runs in north Kashmir. Therefore, he said, no train will chug on Srinagar-Badgam in central Kashmir and Baramulla in north.
He said all scheduled trains will chug on Srinagar-Anantnag-Qazigund in south Kashmir to Banihal in Jammu region.
He said railway department is acting on the advice of police for the safety and security of passengers and railway property.
Over a dozen times train service had been suspended partially or fully in the Kashmir valley for security reasons. Last year more than 50 times the train service remained suspended.
Train service has become very popular in the Kashmir valley as it is being considered cheap, fast and safe.
However, during 2016 railway suffered loss of crores of rupees after demonstrators damaged rail property besides due to cancellation of train service for about six months due to summer unrest. UNI