Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 30 (ANI): Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the Vande Bharat Express will now operate from Jammu to Srinagar, expanding the service that was launched by PM Narendra Modi from Katra last year.

He further asserted that the train has also been upgraded from 8 to 20 coaches to accommodate increased passenger demand and improve connectivity in the region.

Speaking to ANI, Vaishnaw said,'Today, Vande Bharat will be started from Jammu. Which the honourable Prime Minister had started from Katra a year ago. There was a Katra to Srinagar service. Today we will do it from Jammu to Srinagar. And second, earlier it had 8 coaches. And by extending it, it has been made a 20-coach train.'

Ashwini Vaishnaw is set to flag off the extended Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat Express service from Jammu Tawi Railway Station today, with preparations in full swing.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana said, 'We are very grateful to the PM of the country on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir who, after 2014, when he took over the command of the country and with a reform express, the country's weak economy, from the 11th power to the 3rd largest in the world, through start-ups, stand-ups, local, for local, self-reliant, we are going to become the world's biggest power. The fight of the country, today, for us, from Jammu to Srinagar, the people who exploited discrimination in Jammu and Kashmir, today, through this train, tourism, employees, everyone, me, Ashwini Baishawji, the Prime Minister and his entire engineering division, they have electrified the train.'

'The traditional trains, from a safety point of view, comfort point of view, collision point of view, today they are railways. Today, the world's highest bridge. I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister again, that we are moving towards heights,' he added.

The train, which previously operated from Srinagar up to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, will now run all the way to Jammu Tawi, bringing the country's most modern train directly to J&K's largest city and railway hub.

Following the flag-off, the Union Minister will subsequently inspect two of the most remarkable engineering structures on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), the Anji Bridge and the Chenab Bridge.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express on 6th June 2025, the train ran with 8 coaches. Since then, the train has consistently been running at full capacity, with an overwhelming response from passengers.

The decision to augment the rake to 20 coaches is a direct response to that demand, more than doubling the train's seating capacity at a stroke, and significantly easing the pressure on reservations and waitlists, particularly during peak pilgrimage and tourist seasons.

For pilgrims who have watched seats sell out days in advance, for tourists planning a trip to the Valley, and for locals who rely on this service for everyday travel, the expanded rake means the train is now far less likely to turn them away.

With the extension to Jammu Tawi happening simultaneously, the 20-coach Vande Bharat arrives at its largest catchment city with the capacity to match it, a train finally built to the scale of the demand it has always inspired. (ANI)