Jammu: With the festive season expected to bring a sharp increase in passenger traffic towards Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Northern Railway has announced two additional reserved Festival Special Express services between New Delhi and Katra.
The services, Train Nos. 04083/04084, will make two trips each in both directions. The New Delhi-Katra service will leave New Delhi at 2 pm on October 9 and October 16 and reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra at 3 am the following morning.
The return service will depart from Katra at 10 am on October 10 and October 17, reaching New Delhi at 11:30 pm on the same day.
The introduction of the additional services is aimed at accommodating the seasonal rush of passengers and devotees travelling to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine during the festive period. The reserved services will also provide passengers an additional option on the busy Delhi-Jammu-Katra corridor.
The festival special will cover a distance of around 655 kilometres and will comprise 22 modern LHB coaches.
On the onward journey from New Delhi, the train will halt at Sonipat, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala Cantt, Dhandari Kalan, Jalandhar Cantt, Pathankot Cantt, Shaheed Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua, Jammu Tawi and Shaheed Captain Tushar Mahajan before reaching Katra.
The railway administration has also said that another special service, Train Nos. 04081/04082, is already operating on the route and will continue until October 26, adding further temporary capacity during the festive period.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jammu, Uchit Singhal, said the additional services had been planned in view of the substantial increase in the number of devotees travelling to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi during the festive season.
He advised passengers to plan their journeys in advance and book tickets through the IRCTC website or railway reservation counters.
The Jammu Division Railway Administration said the additional services were part of its arrangements to manage the increased passenger movement and facilitate smoother travel during the festival period.
