The Kashmir valley will soon be connected with rest of the country by a rail link when Vande Bharat Express starts operating between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) railway station to Srinagar railway station. The train will pass through the Chenab bridge – the world’s highest rail bridge. The operations are expected to start in February, less than a month after Indian Railways conducted the a trial run of the specially designed Vande Bharat. The train will be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Launch Date

Though no official confirmation has come from Indian Railways or any other government authority, several outlets are claiming that the train will be inaugurated on February 17. PM Modi will inaugurate the Sangaldan-Riyasi track from Katra. After this, the Vande Bharat train service will start directly from Katra to Srinagar.

Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat: Ticket Price

While the final ticket prices are yet to be officially announced, estimates suggest:

• AC Chair Car: Rs 1,500-Rs 1,600
• Executive Chair Car: Rs 2,200-Rs 2,500

These fares are subject to change upon official confirmation.

Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat: Expected Route And Stoppages

The train operates on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), connecting key stations like:

• Katra
• Udhampur
• Banihal
• Qazigund
• Anantnag
• Awantipora

This train will significantly reduce travel time between Jammu and Srinagar, offering passengers a comfortable and efficient journey.

Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat: Timings

Northern Railway had last month announced train timings for the Katra-Srinagar route. According to it, the Vande Bharat Express train will leave from Katra at 8.10 am and arrive in Srinagar at 11.20 am. From Srinagar, the train will leave at 8.55 am and reach Katra at 12.05 pm.

Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat: Features

These special trains are equipped with enhanced safety features and modern passenger amenities, like KAVACH anti-collision system, faster acceleration, fully sealed gangway, automatic plug doors, better ride comfort, mini pantry with provision of hot case, bottle cooler, deep freezer and hot water boiler, reclining ergonomic seats, comfortable seating with revolving seats in executive class, mobile charging sockets for every seat and CCTVs.

These trains have been designed for extreme cold conditions and can operate in temperature as low as minus twenty (-20) degrees Celsius, claim reports. The bio-toilets in these train rakes will have provisions to prevent water from freezing.

About Vande Bharat Trains

As many as 136 Vande Bharat train services having chair cars are operational on the Indian Railways network as of January 2025, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha in a written reply last week.

The minister also said that overall occupancy in these trains is almost 100 per cent.

New Delhi:

The Vande Bharat sleeper train, planned for long and medium-distance journeys, has achieved a peak speed of 180 kilometres per hour during multiple trials in the last three days, the Ministry of Railways said on Friday.

The trials will continue till January-end, before world-class travel is made available to people across the country, it added.

In a post on X, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a video of a successful trial in Kota division. “Vande Bharat (Sleeper) testing at 180 kmph,” he wrote on the micro-blogging site.

The 32-second video shows a full glass of water adjacent to a mobile on a plain surface inside a Vande Bharat sleeper train. The static water level can be seen in the video as the train achieves near constant peak speed of 180 kilometre per hour.

The trials were held from December 31 to January 2.

According to the ministry, the train reached a peak speed of 180 km/hour during a 30-km long run between Kota and Laban in Bundi district of Rajasthan on Thursday. A day earlier, in a 40 km-long trial run between Rohal Khurd to Kota, Vande Bharat sleeper train touched the peak of 180 km per hour. 

Vande Bharat (Sleeper) testing at 180 kmph pic.twitter.com/ruVaR3NNOt

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) January 2, 2025

“On the same day, peaks of 170 km/hr & 160km/hr were achieved on Kota-Nagda & Rohal Khurd-Chau Mahla sections. These trials will continue for the month of January under the supervision of RDSO, Lucknow,” the ministry said.

Once these trials are over, the train will be evaluated by the Railway Safety Commissioner at the maximum speed. Only after passing the final stage, Vande Bharat trains will be officially certified and handed over to Indian Railways for induction and regular service, the ministry added. 

“With these successful trials, rail commuters can hope for a world-class travel experience in long-distance travel like Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Delhi to Mumbai, Howrah to Chennai and many other routes also,” the ministry said.

Earlier, Mr Vaishnaw said that Vande Bharat sleeper trains are equipped with modern features and passenger amenities. 

He highlighted some of these, such as the automatic train protection system Kavach, latest fire-safety standards compliance, crashworthy and jerk-free semi-permanent couplers and anti-climbers, a regenerative braking system for energy efficiency and, higher average speed with quick deceleration and acceleration.

New Delhi:

The year 2024 was a mixed bag for Indian Railways as it saw progress on several projects but faced persistent challenges.

While on the one hand the Railway Ministry claimed to have crossed several milestones paving the way for a new era of modernization and progress, on the other, frequent accidents, inadequate manpower and frontline workers’ issues among others remained major causes of concern.

Among achievements were the introduction of 62 new Vande Bharat train services in different parts of the country, four Amrit Bharat Express services between Darbhanga-“Anand Vihar and Malda Town-SMVT Bengaluru and the first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail between Ahmedabad and Bhuj.

Besides commissioning of 3433 km of rail line across the rail network, inaugurating train operations between the Banihal-Khari-Sumber-Sangaldan section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), operationalisation of Kolkata Metro’s Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section which passes below the Hooghly river through the country’s first underwater transportation tunnel, earned accolades.

“Indian Railways achieved 6,450 km of complete track renewal, 8,550 turnout renewals, and raised speeds to 130 kmph over 2,000 km in 2024,” the ministry said in its ‘Year End Review 2024’.

Other highlights included initiating redevelopment work on 1198 railway stations out of 1337 selected ones, introducing the upgraded version of the automatic train protection system Kavach 4.0, recruiting five lakh employees in the last decade -” a number slightly higher than the previous decade – and dedicating to the nation the Marathwada Rail Coach Factory in Latur to supply Vande Bharat train sets.

“A project for equipping 10,000 locomotives has been finalised and 69 numbers of loco sheds have been prepared for equipping with Kavach,” the ministry said.

Some projects which made progress in the year 2024 were the Vande Bharat sleeper trainset’s first prototype which is all set to undergo field trials soon; the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag railway line which is proposed to be completed by December 2026; and the beginning of design and manufacturing of high-speed train sets that will have a design speed of 280 kmph.

Catering to the need of general passengers, the railway ministry declared its focus on increasing general compartment coaches in its fleet.

“The Ministry of Railways has introduced a system of publishing an annual calendar from 2024 for recruitment to various categories of Group ‘C’ posts. Benefits for the aspirants are more opportunities to those becoming eligible every year, certainty of exams; faster Recruitment process, Training and Appointments,” the Ministry said.

However, despite significant progress in various areas, over 70 reported cases of train derailments including couple of major ones such as – collision between a goods train with Agartala-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express, Derailment of passenger train between Motiganj and Jhilahi stations in Uttar Pradesh, collision of passenger train with derailed Goods train at Barabamboo station in Jharkhand – involving death of several passengers, remained a bigger challenge to safe train running.

Inadequate manpower topped among concerning issues and the problem was so acute that Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar wrote to the finance ministry and said that there is an urgent requirement for additional manpower to maintain the railways’ ever-increasing assets and safe train operations.

Kumar also urged the finance ministry to give the board the power to create non-gazetted posts in safety and essential categories.

Various railway associations such as All India Railway Track Maintainer Union, Indian Railways S&T Maintainers’ Union, All India Loco Running Staff Association, All India Train Controllers’ Association also raised the acute shortage of safety frontline staff.

Vivek Mishra, assistant general secretary of North Eastern Railway Men’s Congress, talking about Train Controllers’ issues said the Railway Board constituted a committee to look into the problems of train controllers but nothing has come out of it yet.

“Higher grade, Higher stress allowance with retirement benefits and night duty without any ceiling to all, high vacancy, requirement of additional posts, better promotion channel with 3 to 4 grade pay structure, etc are core issues of controllers,” Mishra said.

The slow progress of Kavach also came up in a report of the Standing Committee on Railways which, while presenting the First Report on ‘Demands for Grants (2024-25) in the Lok Sabha felt the need to “speed up Kavach-related works and ensure faster penetration of Kavach across Indian Railway Network”.

Similarly, the Committee on Estimates, in its report submitted to the Lok Sabha, after carrying out an in-depth analysis of the progress of ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme” (ABSS), made several recommendations such as need for a dedicated budget, a robust selection process and provisions for maintenance among others.

“While Indian Railways has made commendable progress in infrastructure development, challenges in safety, affordability, and service consistency need urgent attention to ensure it remains a lifeline for the nation. Without a balanced approach to modernization and inclusivity, the transformative vision for Railways risks alienating its core users,” Shailendra Kumar Goel, former DG of Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering & Telecommunications, said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

The Vande Bharat Express train was on its way from Ayodhya to Lucknow. (Representational image)

Stones were thrown at a Vande Bharat train in Uttarakhand on Thursday, causing a crack in one of the windows and sparking panic among passengers. A 22-year-old has been arrested.

Police said the Vande Bharat train (22546) was on its way to Lucknow from Dehradun when the stones were thrown near Kharanja Qutubpur village on the Laksar-Moradabad railway section. The C-6 coach was hit and one of the windows developed a large crack. 

The loco pilot informed the control room in Moradabad and the information was passed on to the Railway Police Force (RPF). An official said a team from the RPF reached Kharanja Qutubpur village and arrested 22-year-old Salman after making inquiries. 

RPF Inspector Ravi Kumar Siwach said a case has been registered against Salman under the Railway Act.

Northern Railways Chief Public Relations Officer Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay said action was taken as soon as the Railways was informed about the incident. “The accused has been arrested and a case has been registered,” he said. 

The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai is gearing up to launch the much-anticipated sleeper version of the Vande Bharat train. In newly released pictures, we see the train’s interiors, luxurious design and advanced features.

This new addition expands the Vande Bharat portfolio, which includes chair car variants and metro trains. Designed for overnight travel, the Vande Bharat sleeper is expected to operate on routes covering distances between 800 km and 1,200 km.

The Vande Bharat Sleeper Train has multiple features to enhance passenger comfort and safety. The train is fully air-conditioned and consists of 16 coaches to accommodate up to 820 passengers. With a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour, the new train will significantly reduce travel times.

U Subba Rao, General Manager of ICF, highlighted the state-of-the-art amenities that set the Vande Bharat sleeper apart from conventional trains. 

Key Features:

• Sensor-Activated Doors: Passengers can touch the door to open it.
• Touch-Free Bio-Vacuum Toilets: These facilities ensure hygiene and convenience.
• Interconnecting Doors: Designed for easy access.
• Touch-Free Bio-Vacuum Toilets: These facilities prioritise hygiene and allow passengers to use the restroom without physical contact.
• Talk-Back Units: These units improve communication between passengers and train attendants.
• Flight-Style Attendant Buttons: Located in first-class compartments, these buttons allow easy access to upper berths.

Safety measures

The Vande Bharat Sleeper Train has an emergency brake system, among other advanced security features. The train also includes the “Kavach” anti-collision system and anti-climbing technology, which prevent coaches from piling on top of each other during accidents.

Testing phase

Before its official launch, the train will undergo rigorous testing. Over the next two months, it will be tested at speeds ranging from 90 kmph to 180 kmph, with an emphasis on evaluating its safety and security features. This testing will take place at the Lucknow RDSO and Western Railway facilities, with the completion date set for November 15.

New Delhi:

The much-anticipated Vande Metro has been officially renamed as “Namo Bharat Rapid Rail” by Indian Railways. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the country’s first Namo Bharat Rapid Rail service in Gujarat today, a day before his birthday.

The Namo Bharat Rapid Rail will connect Bhuj, located in Gujarat’s Kutch district, with Ahmedabad, one of the state’s largest cities, covering a distance of 360 kilometres in just under six hours.

The train is capable of running at a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour and will make multiple stops, including at key stations such as Anjar, Gandhidham, Bhachau, Samakhiali, Halvad, Dhrangadhra, Viramgam, Chandlodiya, Sabarmati, and finally Kalupur in Ahmedabad.

Operating six days a week, the service will be closed on Saturdays for Bhuj departures and on Sundays for Ahmedabad departures. The train departs Bhuj at 5:05 am, arriving in Ahmedabad at 10:50 am The return journey from Ahmedabad leaves at 5:30 pm, reaching Bhuj by 11:20 pm.

The train can accommodate up to 2,058 standing passengers and has seating arrangements for 1,150 passengers, featuring cushioned sofas for added comfort. The fully air-conditioned metro is equipped with modern amenities, including automatic sliding doors and engines on both ends, differentiating it from the Vande Bharat Express by offering features typically seen in suburban metro services.

The minimum fare is set at Rs 30, inclusive of GST, with a one-way trip from Bhuj to Ahmedabad expected to cost around Rs 430, excluding GST. For frequent travellers, weekly, fortnightly, and monthly season tickets will be available, offering substantial savings equivalent to Rs 7, Rs 15, and Rs 20 per single journey, respectively.

New Delhi:

The Railway Board has reduced the speed of semi-high speed trains Gatimaan Express and Vande Bharat from 160 kmph to 130 kmph till the automatic train protection system gets operational.

At present, only Gatiman Express and two Vande Bharat trains run at 160 kmph between Hazarat Nizamuddin (New Delhi) and Agra rail route due to suitable track conditions.

On June 24, the Railway Board’s executive director (signal) issued a letter to the general manager of NCR zone and said that the issue of speed of these trains was examined.

“…it is decided that as advised earlier, Zonal Railways to expedite IR-ATP Kavach works in the section and till the time the Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system is operational, trains to run at maximum speed of 130 kmph in the section,” the letter said.

Directing the NCR zone to ensure the instruction, the letter said that the direction of reduction in speed has also been approved by the Railway Board’s Member, Infra; Member, Traction and Rolling Stock; and Member, Operation and Business Development.

“The Board took the decision on its own in the wake of the recent Kanchanjunga Express accident in West Bengal in which a goods train hit the passenger train from the rear killing 10 people including the freight train’s driver,” a source in the Board told PTI, adding that the speed restriction has been in operation since June 25.

The letter specifically mentions three trains – train number 20171/20172 (New Delhi-Rani Kamalapati Vande Bharat Express), 22470/22469 (Hazrat Nizamuddin-Khajuraho Vande Bharat Express) and train number 12049/12050 (New Delhi-Virangana Lakshmibai Jhansi Gatiman Express).

Gatiman is India’s first semi-high speed train launched in April 2016 which runs between Nizamuddin and Jhansi but it takes 160 kmph speed only between Tughlakabad railway station and Agra as tracks were laid there to suit the train’s speed.

“On June 22, 2024, five days after the Kanchanjunga Express accident on June 17, the crew of Gatiman was instructed by the control department to reduce the speed from 160 to 140 and then two days later, the Railway Board’s direction came,” a railway source from Delhi Rail Division said.

“Vande Bharat runs at 130 kmph across all rail networks except this New-Delhi Agra route as it gets a suitable track to go up to 160,” another railway source said.

He added, “The distance between Nizamuddin and Agra is 188 km and out of that about 125 km stretch is such where trains can run at a maximum speed of 160 kmph. At remaining stretches, its speed varies but remains below 130. Vande Bharat and Gatiman had almost a similar speed graph until the Railway Board’s new direction came to decrease the speed to 130.” According to the railway sources, the Agra division is already working on ‘Kavach’ installation and it has developed a complete ‘Kavach’ network on the 80-km stretch between Mathura (excluding the station) and Palwal.

This involves the placement of RFID tags on railway tracks in station areas and other places, installation of stationary ‘Kavach’ units at several places such as stations, and installation of towers and antennas along the tracks.

“This installation is only for the purpose of trial and it is not being used in train operations as of now. It can be made operational as and when the concerned authorities decide,” a loco pilot, working on that route, said.

The Kavach system, developed by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), can apply brakes automatically in case of an emergency when a train driver fails to act in time. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Video of a new version of the popular Vande Bharat train is going viral on social media. It shows the train in Solapur, on its way to Mumbai. Though Indian Railways has not assigned any name to the new series of train, social media users are calling

Here are five points on the new train:

New Delhi:

Vande Bharat services are expected to be introduced in Srinagar within this financial year after the Jammu-Srinagar line becomes functional, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said here on Thursday.

He said the semi-high speed train will also serve the people of Tripura once the railway line to the northeastern state gets electrified.

The government plans to roll out 75 Vande Bharat trains by March next year and is also keen to run sleeper versions of the trains on long-distance routes as an alternative to Rajdhani Express trains.

“Once the Jammu to Srinagar railway line is completed very soon Vande Bharat will also be run on that,” Vaishnaw told PTI.

He said the Jammu-Srinagar railway line is expected to start within this financial year.

This train has been designed in a unique way so that they run very smoothly in those temperatures and altitude, Vaishnaw said.

According to a survey, Vande Bharat express trains have been popular amongst the youth and senior citizens alike for comfort and speed.

“In Tripura, the railway line will get electrified shortly, then we will be able to provide Vande Bharat services to Tripura,” Vaishnaw said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken personal interest in the development of the northeastern region and Jammu and Kashmir where railway services were being expanded in a big way.