The railways will introduce a Vande Bharat Sleeper Train in the Delhi - Srinagar route in a few months. If all goes well, the train will be launched in January 2025. An 800 km service that will be covered in 13 hours departs Delhi at 7 pm and reaches Srinagar at 8 am the next day. A few of its important stops are the Ambala Cantonment Junction, Ludhiana Junction, Kathua, Jammu Tawi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Sangaldan and Banihal. If the service goes well, it will likely be extended to Baramulla, the gateway to popular tourist spots like Pahalgam and Gulmarg. The train will have AC 3 Tier (3A), AC 2 Tier (2A), and AC First Class (1A). Its ticket prices are expected to be Rs 2,000 for 3A, Rs 2,500 for 2A, and Rs 3,000 for 1A.
Famous tourist spots en route
Some of the popular tourist spots that can be easily accessed by travelling on the soon-to-be-launched Vande Bharat sleeper train are the Vaishno Devi Temple, which attracts millions of devotees every year, the Banganga spring, the Raghunath Temple near the Jammu Tawi station, the Bahu Fort situated near the Tawi River, the Kathua Fort near the New Kathua railway station, the Sufi Shrine of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Clock Tower and Museum and Gurudwara Manji Sahib. If extended to Baramulla, alongside Gulmarg and Pahalgam, tourists can also explore the Nigeen Lake, the Old Baramulla area, Wular Lake and many other historic sites, like the ancient Shankaracharya Temple.