Jammu, Apr 29 (UNI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will flag off the extended Jammu-Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express service from Jammu Tawi Railway Station here on Thursday.
The train, which previously operated from Srinagar up to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, will now run all the way to Jammu Tawi, bringing the country’s most modern train directly to J&K’s largest city and railway hub.
Following the flag-off, the union Minister will subsequently inspect two of the most remarkable engineering structures on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), the Anji Bridge and the Chenab Bridge.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Katra–Srinagar Vande Bharat Express on June 6, 2025, the train ran with 8 coaches. Since then, the train has consistently been running at full capacity, with an overwhelming response from passengers.
The decision to augment the rake to 20 coaches is a direct response to that demand, more than doubling the train’s seating capacity at a stroke, and significantly easing the pressure on reservations and waitlists, particularly during peak pilgrimage and tourist seasons.
With the extension to Jammu Tawi happening simultaneously, the 20-coach Vande Bharat arrives at its largest catchment city with the capacity to match it, a train finally built to the scale of the demand it has always inspired.
While tomorrow’s flag-off marks the inaugural run, the extended Jammu Tawi–Srinagar Vande Bharat Express will enter regular service from May 2.
Along with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh; Lieutenant Governor J&K Manoj Sinha; Chief Minister J&K Omar Abdullah, Members of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma, Sat Sharma, and Gulam Ali Khatana will also be present.
Two pairs of services will operate across the corridor, covering a distance of around 266 km.
The first service (Train No. 26401) departs Jammu Tawi at 6:20 AM, halts at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Reasi, and Banihal, arriving at Srinagar at 11:10 AM, a journey of four hours and 50 minutes.
Its return (Train No. 26402) leaves Srinagar at 2:00 PM and reaches Jammu Tawi by 6:50 PM.
This pair runs six days a week, except Tuesday.
The second service (Train No. 26404) departs Srinagar at 8:00 AM, halts at Banihal and Katra, and arrives at Jammu Tawi by 12:40 PM. Its return (Train No. 26403) departs Jammu Tawi at 1:20 PM and reaches Srinagar by 6:00 PM.
This pair runs six days a week, except on Wednesday.
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.
Extending the Vande Bharat’s run from Katra all the way to Jammu Tawi is a straightforward but consequential change for ordinary travellers across the entire J&K region.
Until now, pilgrims and passengers arriving at Jammu Tawi Railway Station, which is one of the busiest railheads in northern India, connecting trains from Delhi, Mumbai, and beyond, had to change trains or arrange separate road transport to reach Katra.
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.
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 the journey is now eliminated.
“For residents of Jammu, Katra, Reasi, and the Kashmir Valley, the extension addresses a long-standing inconvenience. A student from Srinagar travelling to Jammu for college, a government official commuting between the two capitals of J&K, a patient travelling to a hospital in Jammu, all of them previously had to break their journey at Katra and arrange onward transport. That interchange is now eliminated,” said a handout issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
During his visit, the Railway Minister will inspect the Anji Khad Bridge, India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge, rising 331 metres above the Anji River valley and anchored by 96 high-tensile cables.
He will also inspect the Chenab Rail Bridge, the world’s highest railway arch bridge at 359 metres above the riverbed, taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Both structures are the backbone of the USBRL, the 272-km project through the Himalayas that now makes this extended Vande Bharat service possible.
The extension of the Vande Bharat to Jammu Tawi is the latest milestone in a decade-long effort to transform railway connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, said an official.
The Udhampur-Katra section was commissioned in 2014. The Kashmir Valley saw its first electric train in February 2024.
A dedicated Jammu Railway Division was created in January 2025. Stations at Jammu Tawi, Katra, Udhampur, and Budgam are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
The USBRL, built at a total cost of Rs 43,780 crore with 36 tunnels spanning 119 km and 943 bridges, is the connective tissue that makes all of it possible.
”When Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat on this corridor last year, it was a historic moment. Tomorrow’s extension to Jammu Tawi takes that history forward and brings its benefits to millions more,” the Minister added.
