Ride the train across the Chenab Bridge into Kashmir

What the experience is

The railway into the Kashmir Valley was completed on 6 June 2025, when the Chenab Bridge was inaugurated and the first Vande Bharat express trains ran between Katra and Srinagar. It is the final section of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla line, 272 kilometres through the outer ranges of the Himalaya, built in stages over more than two decades.

For a traveller it is a new way to arrive in one of the most celebrated landscapes in India, and a piece of mountain railway engineering worth the journey for its own sake.

The line

The Chenab Bridge is a steel arch 1,315 metres long. Its deck stands 359 metres above the bed of the river, some 35 metres higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was designed to withstand strong earthquakes and winds of up to 266 kilometres an hour. A second large bridge on the same section, at Anji Khad, is the first cable-stayed railway bridge in India.

Much of the route is in tunnel, so the views come in episodes: a gorge, a terraced hillside, the bridge, then darkness again, until the train emerges into the broad, level valley with its orchards and poplars. The semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains take about three hours from Katra to Srinagar, and the road is often closed by snow and landslides in winter. The railway is meant to run all year.

When to go

The valley is visited from spring to autumn for its gardens, lakes and meadows, and in winter for the snow at Gulmarg. The train makes a winter arrival more dependable than the road.

Good to know

Katra, where the original service begins, is the station for the pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine and is linked to Delhi by day and overnight trains. Since spring 2026 the Vande Bharat service has also run from Jammu Tawi, extending the journey south. A through train from Delhi to Srinagar was still being planned at the last report we found, so passengers from Delhi have been changing trains at Katra or Jammu; check the current timetable. Seats are reserved through the Indian Railways booking system and should be booked ahead. Before travelling, check the current advice of your own government for the region, and the day’s train status.

Why OKYTO recommends it

The train passes over the bridge in under a minute, but the line as a whole is among the most ambitious mountain railways built this century. Srinagar, at the end of it, is known for the houseboats and gardens of Dal Lake and is the base for the meadows of Gulmarg and Pahalgam.