This summer, choose one of the trains going directly from New Delhi to Katra, for an easy and quick journey. By Shrimayee Thakur
Vaishno Devi attracts nearly one crore ardent devotees every year, who undertake the difficult 12 km trek from the base camp at Katra to the temple at the top. The number of visitors are especially high during summers, with families planning trips to the popular pilgrimage site together.
While earlier the only option was to travel to Vaishno Devi via Jammu & Kashmir, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has made the journey a lot more convenient by establishing direct trains from New Delhi to Katra, which travellers can board to reach the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Railway Station in the base camp of Katra, from where they can journey ahead to the temple.
There are two super-fast trains operating along the route from New Delhi to Katra: Shri Shakti Express (22461) and Uttar Sampark Kranti (12445), which run every day of the week and take around 12 hours to reach the destination.
Other available options are the Jammu Mail (14033), the Malwa Express (12919), the Swaraj Express (12471) and the JBP SVDK Express (11449). While the first two run throughout the week, the Swaraj Express runs four days a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, and the JBP SVDK Express is only available on Tuesday.
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