Jammu, Apr 30: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the extended Vande Bharat Express from Jammu to Katra, emphasising that strengthening maintenance practices remains key to safety and security, while the next major focus is increasing capacity on the Jammu-Srinagar rail corridor through track doubling to enable more train operations.
CM Omar Abdullah , MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh , MP Sat Sharma and others senior Leaders were there.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, “Maintenance practices are our focus on safety and security. The next focus is to increase the capacity of the Jammu to Srinagar rail line. Doubling of the Qazigund to Arinagar line, and we can see that more trains can be run on this line.
Vaishnaw said the Vande Bharat Express on the Jammu-Katra-Srinagar route has emerged as a major success, with full occupancy, high passenger numbers, and advanced technology enabling smooth operations even in extreme cold conditions.
This train can be operated on minus 10 degree temperatures and piping is such that water can’t freeze. In the last snow season, we tried this train, and according to that, this new 20-bogie train is modified.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, “I congratulate the railway ministry. We have connected Jammu today with Srinagar.”
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