Rail services resume in Kashmir Valley, people throng Sunday flea market in Srinagar

Srinagar: Rail services in the Kashmir Valley resumed fully on Sunday - over three months after being suspended due to security reasons- as the train chugged from Srinagar to Banihal through the restive south Kashmir, officials said.
The train passes through Srinagar station and the stations in south Kashmir before reaching Banihal.

A railway official told PTI that "rail service in the valley fully resumed this morning as the train chugged from Baramulla towards Banihal".

The official said there was only one run scheduled for Sunday, while the train would make two runs on daily basis from Monday.

The Railways conducted two trial runs of the service on the Srinagar-Banihal stretch on Saturday and then another trial run on Sunday morning before the actual service started, he added.

Rail service in the valley had partially resumed on Tuesday as the train chugged between Baramulla and Srinagar stretch of the railway line.
The authorities have directed the Railways to ply the trains between 10 am and 3 pm only due to security reasons, the official said.

The train service in the Kashmir valley was suspended due to security reasons on August 3 ahead of the Centre's announcement of abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories.

The weekly flea market here, meanwhile, witnessed a huge rush of customers, official said.
They said markets remained open around noon, after which shopkeepers downed their shutters to join the protest against abrogation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Few mini-buses have started plying on some routes in the city and elsewhere in the valley, the officials said, adding, cabs and auto-rickshaws were also plying. They said private transport was plying unhindered in the city here and elsewhere in the valley.

Pre-paid mobile phones and all Internet services continued to remain suspended since 5 August.

Most of the top level and second rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders including two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

The government has detained former chief minister and sitting Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah under the controversial Public Safety act.