Vande Bharat Express, realizing the dream of connecting Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari, is garnering a lot of praise across the country for its speed and facilities. The recently launched Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat Express has also proved to be a superhit. The surprising thing is that from June to August 2025, this train is almost fully booked, with occupancy recorded at more than 100%. Due to this superhit train, airfares between Jammu and Srinagar have also come down drastically.
Srinagar Katra Vande Bharat
This Vande Bharat Express is known for its high speed, which connects Srinagar to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. While it takes 6 to 7 hours to cover this distance of 191 km by road, this high-speed train completes this journey in just 3 hours. This train runs 6 days a week, and Banihal station is its main stop. A total of two pairs of trains are being run on this route.
Vande Bharat Timings and Fares
This luxurious train of Indian Railways has two types of travel classes available, AC Chair Car and Executive Chair Car. The train fares of both these classes are quite economical. The morning train departs from Srinagar at 8 am and Katra at 8:10 am, while the afternoon train departs from Srinagar at 2 pm and Katra at 2:55 pm. The fare of AC Chair Car is ₹715, and the fare of Executive Chair Car is ₹1320, which is much less than the airplane fare. Due to these affordable fares and great facilities, this train has become the first choice of passengers of every class.
Airfares have been greatly affected
With the introduction of the Vande Bharat Express, the number of passengers flying between Jammu and Srinagar has decreased, which has directly affected the prices of air tickets. Earlier, when the flight ticket used to cost ₹ 10,000 to ₹ 15,000, now the next day’s ticket is available for just ₹ 2,500. This change is living proof of the popularity of Vande Bharat.
Vande Bharat is specially designed
According to the Indian Railways, Vande Bharat has been specially designed to run in the minus temperatures of the Kashmir Valley. In winter, the temperature here goes below zero, so a heating system has been installed in this train. It has silicon heating pads, which will not allow water tanks and bio-toilet tanks to freeze.
Apart from this, it is also equipped with an overheat protection sensor. Passengers will get warm air in winter, and the train also has an auto-draining mechanism system, so that water will not freeze in the pipelines. This modern train is ready to give passengers a safe and comfortable travel experience in every season.