Abid Bashir
Srinagar, Oct 19: Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Thursday inaugurated the state-of the art Vistadom Coach and stated that the new train will give an opportunity to the local travellers and tourists to enjoy modern day travel experience in the Valley and see natural beauty closely.
Addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Vistadom Coach at Srinagar railway station, the Lt Governor said that Vistadom Coach is a state-of the art train with advanced features of entertainment and sitting. “This coach has rotational facility of seats, power sockets as charging points, transparent glass made roof and windows and automatic doors with sensors etc,” he said, adding that “Local travellers and tourists travelling in Vistadom Coach will enjoy the modern day travel experience in Valley and feel the natural beauty right from Budgam, Qazigund, Anantnag and Banihal very closely.”
The Lt Governor said that the Vistadom coach offers 360-degree views of the train journey. They come complete with huge glass windows, and rotating chairs so that travelers can face the windows to soak in the views or turn them around to talk to other passengers.
The Lt Governor said that the new train will chug from Budgam to Banihal while time is not far when the train will connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari. He said introducing the Vistadom Coach is another step towards J&K’s developmental journey.
He said post G-20, the number of foreign tourist arrivals have gone up in J&K by 350 percent while as against last year’s 1.88 Crore tourist arrivals, this year, 1.70 Crore tourists have visited J&K till September 30. Interestingly, the J & K administration is eyeing 2.25 Crore tourist arrivals by the year end.
The Lt Governor said that the new train will not only ferry the travellers from Budgam to Banihal but also provide livelihood opportunities to the youth at Budgam, Qazigund, and Banihal points. He said that with the prevailing peace, youth have changed their mind set and are becoming part of the developmental journey of J&K.
