April 26, 2025 - Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare of India, flagged off special tourist trains from Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pahalgam attack following which tourists are reported to be anxious to leave the region and get back home.

On April 23, the Northern Railway operated the first unreserved special train from Katra to New Delhi. On April 24, the Northern Railways initiated two special unreserved trains from Katra to New Delhi for the stranded passengers and to accommodate the extra rush.

The trains left Shri Vaishno Devi Katra with stoppages at several stations such as Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Panipat before terminating at the New Delhi Railway Station

According to the chief public relations officer of the Northern Railway, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyaya, special train services (04606/04605) have been planned from Jammu and Katra railway stations for coping with passengers in the summer rush,

A weekly reserved train service, with 20 coaches, from Katra railway station has been introduced for five pair of trips - on May 2, 9 16, 23 and 30. The train will depart from Katra at 9.30 pm to Guwahati with enroute stoppages including Udhampur, Jammu and Pathankot.

A reserved superfast special with 13 coaches, Train nos. 04610/04609, will run on 10 pair of trips from Jammu to Banaras. It will depart Jammu every Thursday at 6.20 am, from May 8 to July 10, via Pathankot.

According to Railway officials, help desks have been set up at Jammu Tawi and Katra stations to help passengers with train timings and other related services.

With Media Inputs