Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday termed the new Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Katra as a “Navratri gift” for Jammu and Kashmir. He said service was an attempt by the railways to carry forward PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Train 18, the Vande Bharat Express will begin its commercial run between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra October 5 (Saturday) onwards each day .Travel for Vaishno Devi yatris will now become easier… Gandhiji inspired the entire world without giving any big and long speeches… his biggest message was swadeshi he said .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the new service on Twitter. he said ..A Navratri gift for my sisters and brothers of Jammu as well as devotees of Maa Vaishno Devi! The New Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi to Maa Vaishno Devi, Katra will improve connectivity as well as spiritual tourism.
Train number 22439 New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will leave from the New Delhi railway station at 6am to reach Katra at 2pm. En route, the train will halt at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jammu Tawi for two minutes each. On the return journey the same day, train number 22440 Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express will leave from the Katra railway station at 3pm to reach the New Delhi railway station at 11pm.
Train 18 will ply on all days of the week except for Tuesday. The train will bring down the travel time between Delhi and Katra, the last station on the way to Vaishno Devi temple, to eight hours from the current 12 hours. Just like the earlier version which runs between Delhi and Varanasi, the railways has not applied the dynamic fare principle on the new Vande Bharat train for Delhi-Katra.
The minimum fare for travelling between New Delhi (NDLS) to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) will be Rs 1,630 and the greatest will be Rs 3,015. The train will run on all days of the week except Tuesdays. The luxury all air-conditioned chair car service with 16 coaches is an engine-less self-propelled trainset which allows for faster acceleration and deceleration, therefore reducing travel time by 40 per cent.