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India’s fastest series of trains Vande Bharat would soon be chugging along the New Delhi-Srinagar route. This is great news for the tourism sector in the Kashmir valley as well as for the allayed sectors. The sleeper train is expected to shorten the distance of travel to about 13 hours between Delhi and Srinagar. While the three-tier sleeper berth price has been kept at Rs.2000, the second-tier price at Rs.2500, and the First-tier berth price at Rs.3000. It practically means that Delhi is now just an overnight journey away from Srinagar and vice versa. You can take the evening Vande Bharat Express in Delhi and be sure to reach Srinagar by morning. This train is expected to start chugging along the picturesque valley in January. It remains to be seen whether this will be announced on 26th January 2025 on Republic Day or will be launched on the First of January to welcome the year 2025. The price has been pegged at an affordable Rs.2000 for the three-tier berth which is almost the same or less than what an Air-conditioned bus journey on this route costs. This would encourage middle and lower-middle-class tourists from Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. For winter tourism this can be a boon as the airfare in winter always shoots through the roof and the flights get cancelled or delayed due to adverse weather conditions. The train is an all-weather phenomenon and the schedule is almost unerring mostly. Places like Gulmarg may struggle with the heavy rush of tourists during winter months as Gulmarg is practically now an overnight journey away from half of the country. The government needs to promote homestays along the route of Gulmarg and a prompt cab or bus service to take tourists up and down from these low-lying places to Gulmarg. This route is believed to be one of the most scenic train routes of India and now that Delhi to Srinagar is just an overnight journey away a lot of prospective grooms and brides from the valley would be heading to Delhi for apparel shopping. At a later stage, we may expect goods carriages carrying horticulture produce to markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru. This train project is the answer to China – that India is capable of building railway infrastructure in the most challenging terrains. That India is self-sufficient in building quality infrastructure across any topography. For geopolitics reasons, this train route is of immense significance. Congratulations to the government of India and the LG administration for making the train to Kashmir a success. Let the trains chug between Delhi and Srinagar!
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