The first Vande Bharat train from Katra to Kashmir is going to be inaugurated. According to the Indian Railways, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the train from Katra on April 19. This is going to be one of the milestones of the 272 km long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project. The Jammu-Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express will initially run from Katra, as the Jammu railway station is undergoing renovation work.
Railway officials said the rail link project has already been completed. The test run of the train on the Katra-Baramulla route has been conducted successfully. The Commissioner of Railway Safety had approved train services between Katra and Kashmir in January. In January, Vande Bharat successfully completed its first trial run from Katra to Srinagar. The rake of the luxurious and speedy train departed from Katra Railway Station at 8 am and reached Srinagar Railway Station at 11 am after covering a distance of over 150 km in just three hours.
"PM Modi will come to Udhampur on April 19," Union Minister Jitendra Singh said in Jammu on Sunday. He will visit and inaugurate Chenab, the world's highest railway bridge. He will flag off the Vande Bharat train from Katra. With the inauguration of the train, the long-standing demand of direct rail connectivity with Kashmir will be fulfilled. Currently, train services operate only between Sangaldan and Baramulla in the valley and from Katra to various places across the country. The introduction of direct train services in Kashmir will benefit Jammu and Kashmir, while trade and tourism in the Kashmir Valley are also expected to increase.
Any train between Jammu and Srinagar usually takes around 6 to 8 hours. However, the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, spanning 272 km and connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country by train for the first time, has also significantly reduced the journey time.
This time Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Vande Bharat from Katra to Srinagar. This railway line, which was constructed at a cost of Rs 41,000 crore, would follow the world's most difficult path.
The Vande Bharat train will have to cross the 1,178-foot-high Chenab bridge over the river. The train will also travel more than 100 kilometres through the tunnel.
