Katra to Srinagar Train 2026: Vande Bharat Time Table, Fares and Booking

Yes, there is a train from Katra to Srinagar. The Vande Bharat Express has run since 7 June 2025, leaving Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra at 8:10 am and 2:55 pm and reaching Srinagar in three hours; since 30 April 2026 the same trains start further back, at Jammu Tawi. A chair car seat from Katra costs about ₹715 to ₹720.

This page is the Katra leg: the timetable in both directions, the fares, how to book, what the security check at Katra station involves, and how to fit the train around a Vaishno Devi darshan. Every way into Kashmir is compared in our transport guide, and the connection from Delhi, with the Chenab Bridge in detail, is in Delhi to Srinagar by train.

Is there a train from Katra to Srinagar?

Yes. The Katra to Srinagar line opened to the public on 7 June 2025, when two Vande Bharat Express pairs began running between Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and Srinagar through Reasi and Banihal, four trips a day. On 30 April 2026 the service was extended to start from Jammu Tawi, with regular runs from 2 May and the rakes lengthened from 8 to 20 coaches. Katra is now the stop about two hours into the run from Jammu.

By rail it is 191 km from Katra to Srinagar, with the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges and the long tunnels under the Pir Panjal in between. The train takes three hours. The road, about 245 km through Udhampur and Banihal, takes seven to nine.

Katra to Srinagar train time table (2026)

Two Vande Bharat trains leave Katra for Srinagar every day but one: 26401 at 8:10 am, arriving at 11:10 am, which does not run on Tuesdays, and 26403 at 2:55 pm, arriving at 6:00 pm, which does not run on Wednesdays. In October 2026 the booking sites also list a slower special, 04687, at 1:45 pm Monday to Saturday, reaching Srinagar at 7:36 pm.

The two-minute halt at Reasi was added on 29 October 2025 on an experimental basis; Banihal is the stop where the train has cleared the mountains and the valley opens out. Railway timetables are revised from time to time, and specials come and go, so check the NTES app or IRCTC for your date before you plan the day around a train.

Srinagar to Katra train

From Srinagar, 26404 leaves at 8:00 am and 26402 at 2:00 pm. The afternoon train reaches Katra at about 4:55 pm and Jammu Tawi at 6:50 pm. The morning train's Katra time is not printed in the sources we used; three hours, like every other run on this line, puts it at about 11 am, with Jammu Tawi at 12:40 pm.

If you are flying out of Srinagar and want the train only one way, take it into Kashmir: the 8:10 am arrival at 11:10 am gives you the afternoon on the Dal. Going out, the 8:00 am departure means leaving a Gulmarg or Pahalgam hotel before dawn, so sleep in Srinagar the night before.

Katra to Srinagar train ticket price

The Katra to Srinagar Vande Bharat fare was ₹715 in AC Chair Car and ₹1,320 in Executive Chair Car when the service opened, and the booking sites showed ₹720 and ₹1,330 for 14 October 2026, catering and reservation fee included. The same sites showed ₹890 and ₹1,520 for the Srinagar to Katra direction on the same day, so budget a little more for the way back.

The fare includes a vegetarian meal, with some Kashmiri dishes on the menu, and the reservation fee. There is no unreserved coach on this train, so every passenger, including a child who needs a seat, must hold a booked ticket. Executive Chair Car buys a wider seat and a quieter coach, not a faster train.

Measured against the road, the train is the bargain: a one-way taxi from Katra to Srinagar starts at about ₹6,500 for a sedan and takes seven to nine hours, so a family of four pays more for a slower, bumpier day.

How to book the Katra to Srinagar Vande Bharat

• Book on IRCTC or any rail app. Search Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) to Srinagar (SINA). Booking opens 60 days before the date of travel.
• The morning train fills first. On 14 October 2026, a plain Wednesday, chair car on the 8:10 am train showed a waitlist of 136 and executive class a waitlist of 22. Book the day the window opens for weekends, school holidays, the snow season and the tulip weeks.
• Tatkal the day before. Tatkal booking for both classes, which are AC, opens at 10 am on the day before departure. A few seats, gone in minutes.
• Watch the return as well. Srinagar to Katra seats are in even higher demand than the way in. Book both directions together.
• Carry an original photo ID. It is checked at the station security and may be checked on board.
• If it says "regret", try the other train. The afternoon 26403 and the special 04687 often have seats when the morning train is waitlisted, and 26403 runs on Tuesday when 26401 does not.

At Katra station: the security check and how early to arrive

Reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station at least an hour before your train. Passengers and luggage for the Srinagar trains are screened the way they are at an airport, with ID checked, and the platform is not somewhere you can run to at the last minute. The station is 1.2 km from the Katra bus stand, a short auto ride, or a 15-minute walk if your bags are light.

If you are changing trains at Katra after a train from Delhi, allow longer. The arrangement Northern Railway officials described in April 2025 sent arriving passengers to a lounge outside the station for ID verification, baggage scanning and a security check, with a wait of two to three hours before the Srinagar train. Since the Vande Bharat was extended to Jammu Tawi in May 2026, the same screening has been set up at Jammu, and passengers who board there stay on the train at Katra. Nobody has published how long the Katra check takes in October 2026, so plan for the two to three hours and be pleased if it is faster.

• Yatra RFID cards. The Shrine Board's registration counters include one at the railway station as well as the bus stand, so a pilgrim can collect the yatra access card on arrival.
• Phones. Prepaid SIMs from other states stop working in Jammu and Kashmir, including at Katra. A postpaid SIM, or a local one, before you travel.
• Food. A meal is served on board, but the morning train leaves at 8:10 am, so eat in Katra first if you need a proper breakfast.

Vaishno Devi and Kashmir in one trip

The station's full name, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, says what most of its passengers are there for, and the train has made the old two-day road slog from Katra into the valley a three-hour morning. The plan that works:

• Day 1: reach Katra. The New Delhi to Katra Vande Bharat (22439) leaves at 6:00 am and arrives at about 2:20 pm; overnight trains from Delhi and most big cities also end at Katra. Collect the RFID yatra card, rest, and start the climb in the evening or before dawn.
• Day 2: the darshan. The walk from Banganga to the Bhawan is about 12 to 13 km each way, with ponies, palkis and the helicopter as alternatives. Most pilgrims are back in Katra by evening; keep this night in Katra.
• Day 3: the 8:10 am train. Srinagar by 11:10 am, Dal Lake by lunch. From here the Kashmir circuit of Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam runs four to six days.

How many days to give the valley, and in what order, is in our Kashmir itinerary; what the whole trip costs, with real 2026 prices, is in Kashmir trip cost. For the city itself, start with our Srinagar guide.

The journey: Anji Khad, the Chenab Bridge and the Banihal tunnels

The first hour out of Katra is the part people take this train for. The line crosses the Anji Khad Bridge, India's first cable-stayed railway bridge, 331 m above the river between Katra and Reasi, and then the Chenab Bridge, the highest railway bridge in the world, with its deck 359 m above the river bed and 1,315 m long, between Bakkal and Kauri in Reasi district. Both opened to trains on 6 June 2025. After Reasi the line disappears into tunnel after tunnel under the Pir Panjal, surfaces at Banihal, and then runs across the flat valley floor through Qazigund and Anantnag to Srinagar.

Take a window seat and keep the camera ready, because the views come in bursts between tunnels, and expect the phone signal to vanish for long stretches. The bridges and tunnels in more detail, with the Delhi connection, are in our Delhi to Srinagar train guide.

Arriving: Srinagar railway station to Dal Lake and the city

Srinagar railway station (code SINA) is at Nowgam on the south-west edge of the city, about 8 km from Lal Chowk and about 14 km from Dal Lake; allow 30 to 45 minutes in traffic. Taxis wait outside the station, and the operators' 2026 lists quote ₹1,200 for a sedan to the Boulevard. Rapido and the local apps Aala and Novo also work, if your SIM does.

Where to sleep when you get there: hotels in Srinagar and houseboats on the Dal. The city centre, 8 km up the road, is Lal Chowk.

Katra to Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonamarg by train

No train runs beyond Srinagar towards the hill stations; the valley line continues only to Budgam and Baramulla. So every "Katra to Gulmarg" or "Katra to Pahalgam" journey is the three-hour train to Srinagar and a taxi from the station, which puts Gulmarg about five hours from Katra door to door and Pahalgam about six.

The routes, fares and the winter chains rule are in Srinagar to Gulmarg, Srinagar to Pahalgam and Srinagar to Sonamarg.

Katra to Srinagar by road: distance, taxi and bus

By road, Katra to Srinagar is about 245 km: down to Udhampur, then the Jammu to Srinagar highway (NH44) through Ramban and the Banihal tunnel, seven to nine hours in good weather and longer when the highway runs one-way or closes for a landslide. The train does it in three. Drive only if you are already hiring a car for the whole Kashmir trip, or every train is full.

Starting from Jammu instead? The Jammu timetable, the bus and taxi fares from Jammu and the highway rules are in our Jammu to Srinagar guide.

• Bus. We found no direct scheduled bus from Katra to Srinagar in October 2026. Buses run from Katra to Jammu, and the Jammu to Srinagar buses and shared taxis leave from Jammu: a full day with a change.
• Winter. The highway closes for snow and landslides, sometimes for days. Check the J&K Traffic Police advisory on the morning you travel, and remember the train usually keeps running when the road does not.

The highway, its closures and the one-way traffic plans are in how to reach Kashmir.

Is there a local train from Katra to Srinagar?

No. The only trains between Katra and Srinagar are the reserved Vande Bharat services and the occasional special. The cheap local DEMU trains that you see in the "₹45 train to Kashmir" videos run only inside the valley, between Banihal and Baramulla through Anantnag, Srinagar and Budgam, five pairs a day. There is no unreserved service across the Pir Panjal from Katra, and no plan for one that we can find.

Those locals are useful once you are in Kashmir: Srinagar to Anantnag for Pahalgam, or to Budgam. They are not a way to reach Srinagar from Jammu or Katra.

Does the Katra to Srinagar train run in winter and snow?

Yes, and that is its biggest advantage over the road and the airport. On 23 January 2026, the first heavy snow of that winter, the Vande Bharat from Katra ran through to Srinagar while the valley's local trains between Budgam and Banihal were cancelled and Srinagar airport cancelled every flight. Special reserved trains between Katra and Srinagar were reported on 27 and 28 January, when the highway and the airport were shut again. The train was built for this, with anti-freeze plumbing and heated coaches for sub-zero Srinagar.

What the valley is like in those weeks is in Kashmir in January and snowfall in Kashmir. On a snow day, check Srinagar airport status before you decide between the flight and the train.