Srinagar-Jammu Vande Bharat Train Launch, Scheduled For March 1, Put On Hold

The scheduled launch of the Vande Bharat Express between Srinagar and Jammu on March 1 has been put on hold due to some "unavoidable circumstances", Indian Railway officials said.

"Due to some unavoidable circumstances, the notification programme of Vande Bharat extension from March 1 has been put on hold by the Railway Board till further advice," said a senior Railway officer.

Hours before the announcement, Northern Railway had notified the launch of the much-awaited train service that would connect Srinagar with Jammu on March 1. Extending rail service between Srinagar-Katra to Jammu has a major demand to connect the two capital cities of J&K and also to provide Kashmir's seamless rail connectivity with the rest of the country.

Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat train service was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June last year. The historic train service was a step towards connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country through rail.

On Tuesday, Northern Railways announced the next important milestone by directly connecting Srinagar with Jammu. For seamless connectivity and making the train service more accessible, the Railways also announced increasing the number of coaches of the Vande Bharat train to 20 from the existing eight coaches between Katra and Srinagar.

Katra-Srinagar railway service has become a preferred mode of transport in Jammu and Kashmir. But due to the limited number of coaches and frequency of trains, the service is unable to cope with the rush.

The announcement of train service between Srinagar and Jammu was widely hailed as a historic move, even as direct train service between Kashmir andthe rest of the country still remains a dream. Regular rail services only reach upto Katra, and passengers coming from or going to Srinagar have to undergo transshipment at the station.

While transshipment of passengers will continue even after the Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat train is extended up to Jammu, it's seen as a step closer to achieving a direct train service between Srinagar and Delhi.