While the government poured money without inhibition, the engineers ensured that local sensitivities were respected and taken care of. For example, the bridge over the Jhelum has an extra long span, specially fabricated so that the bridge's pylons wouldn't damage a small cemetery revered by the locals. The track embankments have beautiful wild flowers, instead of the usual stones and gravel. The stations are clean and modern, but reflect local architecture and are a proud testament to local culture and values. For example, the waiting room of the Srinagar station has a triple ceiling, and all the walls are covered with intricately carved woodwork called khatambandh, a speciality of the area.
Most interesting though is the innovation. For example, when the sleek coaches of the railway had to be brought in, the Jawahar Road Tunnel proved to be too low to accomodate the coaches on trailers. So, first, the coach bases were taken off and moved to the other side. Even then, the coaches proved to be just a few centimeters too high! Neither could the tunnel height be increased, nor could the steel frames of the coaches reduced. S0 guess what they did?
Think a little bit.
Apparently, they deflated the tires of the trailers... all 32 of them, and drove to the other side! It meant that by the time the trailer reached the end of the tunnel, all the tires had been almost shredded to bits, and had to be changed to new ones. But hey, it was a small price to pay!
I haven't been to Kashmir myself, but I want to. Just don't know if I will ever summon the guts to do so. With the railway line, I now have another strong motivation to get off my ass and get there.
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