The Ministry of Railways has given approval for carrying out the final location survey for the doubling of the Jammu-Katra Rail Line. This railway line spans 77.96 km between Jammu and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. Northern Railway has been entrusted with the execution of the project.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railway, stated, “This survey will cover a length of 77.96 km and its estimated cost will be Rs 12,59,17,363. It is going to lay the foundation for the construction of this future railway line.”
In addition to this, Shri Upadhyay mentioned that the doubling of the line will make the journey smoother and more convenient for devotees travelling to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Apart from boosting tourism, the new rail line will strengthen the economic ecosystem of the region.
As part of the USBRL project, the Jammu-Katra section currently features a single railway line via Udhampur, which acts as a constraint on operational flexibility. This limitation affects the capacity to introduce additional train services and accommodate increasing rail traffic, especially during peak pilgrimage seasons.
The commissioning of the entire Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project has successfully integrated the Kashmir Valley into the national railway network, which has increased the number of passengers visiting the region. The Katra–Srinagar Vande Bharat Express has seen a positive response from both locals and tourists. In this context, the Railway Ministry’s decision to approve the final location survey is appropriate and reflects the growing transportation needs of the region.
