Under the Pir Panjal
For centuries, the Pir Panjal range was the great barrier between Jammu and the Kashmir Valley, crossed only by the Banihal Pass, which snow often closed in winter. Banihal station (code BAHL), at 1,702 metres in Ramban district, marks the railway's answer: the southern mouth of the Pir Panjal rail tunnel.
The tunnel
The Banihal–Qazigund rail tunnel is 11.215 km long and was described at its opening as the second-longest in Asia. Trains take about 12 minutes to run through it, emerging at Qazigund on the valley side, a journey that could take hours by road over the pass.
Opened in 2013
The station and the tunnel section were inaugurated on 26 June 2013 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. For years, Banihal was the southern end of an isolated valley railway: five trains a day ran from Banihal across the Kashmir Valley to Baramulla, on a network that now runs 137 km.
A station in Kashmiri style
Banihal's building uses Kashmiri wood architecture, designed to evoke the ambience of a royal court, a distinctive welcome for travellers at the gateway to the valley. It has 3 platforms on 4 tracks.
Joined to the rest of India
Services were paused from 5 August 2019, after constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir, and resumed from January 2020. The missing link to the south, from Katra through the mountains, including the T-49 tunnel of about 10.2 km and the Chenab bridge, was completed later. Since June 2025, through trains have linked Katra and Srinagar, with Banihal now a stop on a continuous line.
Riding the valley line
- The views from the train, especially in snow, make this one of India's most spectacular railway journeys.
- Timetables on the Kashmir line are still evolving; check current services on our train schedule page.