PM Modi To Flag Off Historic 1st Vande Bharat to Kashmir Today; Inaugural Journey To Have These Special Guests

Marking a momentous milestone, PM Modi on Friday will flag off the first-ever Vande Bharat Express to Kashmir from Katra this afternoon. Adding to the significance of the event, heroes of the Indian Air Force who took part in Operation Sindoor will be among the passengers on board the inaugural journey.

The 272-kilometre Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project will now finally enable seamless train travel between Jammu and Kashmir, reducing the travel time from Katra to Srinagar to just three hours. Currently, the same journey via road takes up to seven hours.

The Prime Minister’s visit marks his first to the region following Operation Sindoor, the precision air strikes conducted by the Indian armed forces last month taregting key terror launch pads in Pakistan across the Line of Control. The operation was launched in retaliation to the gruesome Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 innocent tourists dead.

Security has been heightened across the Jammu region ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival. The Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train service is not only a technological and infrastructural achievement, but also a symbolic assertion of Modi government's commitment towards the integration of Jammu and Kashmir.

Currently, railway services in the Valley operate between Baramulla, Srinagar, and Sangaldan. With the completion of the Sangaldan–Katra link, Vande Bharat will now cover the entire stretch for the first time.