Jammu, May 1: From tomorrow, you can travel between Srinagar and Jammu city in less than 5 hours, which so far takes at least 8-9 hours by road.
The reduced travel time will be possible because of the extended service of Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat express up to Jammu Tawi Railway Station.
Two pairs of services will operate across the corridor, covering a distance of around 266 km in 4 hours 50 minutes.
The first service (Train No. 26401) will depart Jammu Tawi at 6:20 AM, halt at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Reasi, and Banihal and arrive at Srinagar at 11:10 AM.
Its return (Train No. 26402) will leave Srinagar at 2:00 PM and reach Jammu Tawi by 6:50 PM.
This pair will run six days a week, except Tuesday.
The second service (Train No. 26404) will depart Srinagar at 8:00 AM, halt at Banihal and Katra, and arrive at Jammu Tawi by 12:40 PM.
Its return (Train No. 26403) will depart Jammu Tawi at 1:20 PM and reach Srinagar by 6:00 PM.
This pair runs six days a week, except Wednesday.
These will be 20-coach trains, instead of the 8-coach ones in operation currently.
Together, the two pairs ensure that passengers have a morning and an afternoon Vande Bharat option from both ends of the corridor on most days of the week, giving travellers meaningful flexibility in planning their journeys.
Until now, pilgrims and passengers arriving at Jammu Tawi Railway Station from Delhi, Mumbai, and beyond had to change trains or arrange separate road transport to reach Katra to visit Mata Vaishno Devi shrine situated in the Trikuta mountains.
With the extension, they will be able to board the Vande Bharat directly at Jammu Tawi and reach the Vaishno Devi base camp at Katra, and travel onwards all the way to Srinagar, without a single interchange.
The same seamless journey works in the other direction too. A traveller boarding at Srinagar will now be able to reach Jammu Tawi in a single, unbroken ride, connecting directly to the national rail network.
The Pilgrim: A Blessed Journey Made Easier
For the millions of devotees who travel each year to seek the blessings of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, this extension removes a persistent inconvenience, the mandatory interchange at Katra.
Until now, a pilgrim had to alight at Katra and board a separate Vande Bharat to continue onward, or vice versa. That break in journey is now eliminated.
More significantly, for the growing number of pilgrims who combine the Vaishno Devi darshan at Katra with the Amarnath Yatra, whose base camps at Pahalgam and Baltal are accessed from Srinagar, the entire pilgrim circuit of J&K is now achievable on a single, unbroken rail journey, without a change of train, a second reservation, or the anxiety of a missed connection.
For the Indian and international tourist, this extension opens an entirely new way to experience Jammu & Kashmir.
A visitor flying into Jammu can now board the Vande Bharat at Jammu Tawi and ride through some of the most breathtaking terrain on the subcontinent, past the Shivalik foothills, across the engineering marvel of the Chenab and Anji bridges, through tunnels carved into the Himalayan rock and arrive in Srinagar, ready to experience the Dal Lake, the Mughal Gardens, and the legendary hospitality of the Valley.
No highway delays, no mountain road anxiety, no weather-dependent road closures.
The extension is expected to give a significant boost to tourism across the entire J&K corridor, making the region accessible to a far broader segment of travellers who may have been deterred by the logistics of the journey. (NVI)
