Jammu–Srinagar Vande Bharat

The Vande Bharat from Jammu Tawi to Srinagar covers 269 kilometres in under five hours, from the plains at the foot of the Himalaya to the Kashmir Valley. Until 2025 no train could make the journey: the railway reached Katra from the south and ran from Banihal to Baramulla in the valley, and the mountains in between were crossed by road, a drive often cut off by snow and landslides.

The gap was closed with tunnels and bridges, and one bridge above all. Beyond Reasi the train runs onto the Chenab bridge, a steel arch carrying the line 359 metres above the river — the highest railway bridge in the world, 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. A few minutes earlier it has crossed the Anji gorge on India's first cable-stayed railway bridge, and beyond Banihal it passes under the Pir Panjal range in an 11-kilometre tunnel.

Two trains run each way on most days, with air-conditioned Chair Car and Executive seats and meals served at the seat. The trains were built for the Kashmir winter, with heating, heated windscreens for the driver and a plough on the front to clear snow from the track.

The train leaves Jammu Tawi, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, and climbs into the Shivalik hills on a line that reached Udhampur in 2005, 22 years after its foundation stone was laid. Udhampur's station is named for Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan. From there the line turns west to Katra, reached in 2014, the town at the foot of the Vaishno Devi shrine.

Katra to Banihal

Beyond Katra begins the newest and hardest part of the railway: the 111 kilometres to Banihal, built through young, fractured Himalayan rock and opened to through trains in June 2025. Over 90 per cent of the section between Katra and Laole is in tunnel or on a bridge. Soon after Katra the train crosses the Anji Khad bridge, hung from 96 cables on a single pylon, and two of the four daily trains stop at Reasi.

Then, between Bakkal and Kauri, comes the Chenab bridge: 1,315 metres long, its deck carried 359 metres above the river on a two-ribbed steel arch spanning 467 metres. Built between 2017 and 2022, it is designed to stand winds of 266 km/h and an earthquake of magnitude eight. The whole line keeps to a ruling gradient of one per cent and curves no tighter than 676 metres, so the train needs no extra locomotive for the climb.

Under the Pir Panjal

At Banihal, 1,702 metres up, the train is on the south side of the Pir Panjal range, which divides Jammu from the Kashmir Valley. It passes under the range in the Banihal–Qazigund tunnel, 11.2 kilometres long and opened in 2013, taking about nine and a half minutes; the road crosses by the Jawahar tunnel, 440 metres higher.

The train comes out in the Kashmir Valley, and the character of the journey changes. From Qazigund the line runs across the flat valley floor past Anantnag, Awantipora and Pampore, the saffron town, among orchards and, in winter, deep snow. Srinagar station stands at Nowgam, eight kilometres from the city centre, and is built in the valley's wooden style, with its signs in Urdu, English and Hindi.

The trains are Vande Bharat chair-car units, built at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and adapted for the valley's winters, in a saffron-and-grey livery. Since April 2026 the Jammu–Srinagar trains have run with 20 coaches.

Two Vande Bharat trains run each way, six days a week each: the 26401 and 26402 do not run on Tuesdays, the 26403 and 26404 not on Wednesdays, so there are two trains in each direction on five days and one on the other two. Every seat is reserved.

Jammu Tawi to Srinagar

Srinagar to Jammu Tawi

The journey takes 4 hours 45 to 50 minutes. Udhampur is Martyr Captain Tushar Mahajan station; the trains stop five minutes at Katra and two at the others.

The Vistadome special

A special train with a glass-roofed Vistadome coach runs between Budgam, just beyond Srinagar, and Katra, calling at more of the valley's stations. Restored to its full route on 29 August 2026 after being cut back for the summer, it leaves Budgam at 07:20 (Srinagar 07:35, Banihal 10:10) and reaches Katra at 13:00; the return leaves Katra at 13:45 (Banihal 18:00) and reaches Srinagar at 19:36 and Budgam at 20:00. As a special, its running dates have been extended a few months at a time.

Times are from IRCTC and its partner ConfirmTkt, checked against the Ministry of Railways' announcement — as of October 2026. Check your train on IRCTC (opens in a new tab) before travelling.

Tickets are sold by IRCTC, Indian Railways' booking service, online and in its app. Every ticket is for a reserved seat on a named train, in AC Chair Car or the first-class Executive Chair Car, and a Chair Car ticket includes the meals served at the seat.

Book early. The trains run full in the tourist season: three days before a mid-October date in 2026, the morning train's Chair Car was already eighty places into its waiting list. The fares below are those IRCTC quoted for that week.

No rail pass covers the Jammu–Srinagar Vande Bharat. Interrail and Eurail are European schemes, and India is not among the countries in Interrail's list of covered railway companies. Indian Railways' own pass for foreign visitors, the Indrail Pass, was withdrawn by Railway Board order on 19 September 2017. Every journey is bought as a ticket for a named train, through IRCTC.

A pass would not help here anyway. The fare is modest; a confirmed seat is what to plan around, so book as soon as your dates are fixed.

Checked October 2026 against Interrail's list of railway companies (opens in a new tab) and the Indrail Pass (opens in a new tab).

Jammu's forts and palaces are worth a day before the morning train, and Katra, an hour and fifty minutes up the line, is where pilgrims leave it for Vaishno Devi. In Kashmir, Srinagar's station is eight kilometres from the city, so the lake and the gardens are a taxi ride from the train.

The morning train leaves Jammu at 06:20, so a night in Jammu is the easy way to catch it. Both ends of the line have a palace of the Dogra maharajas that now takes guests.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about Jammu–Srinagar Vande Bharat. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.