Northern Railway’s Jammu Division has announced the running of a special reserved train between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra in order to handle the anticipated spike in passenger traffic over the New Year season, according to officials. Between December 27, 2025, and January 1, 2026, the special train service will operate five trips in each direction with the goal of relieving passengers during the busiest holiday rush. The Jammu Division of Northern Railway claims that the decision was made in light of the rise in travel demand brought on by the New Year’s festivities as well as the flood of pilgrims and tourists traveling to Jammu and Kashmir.
It is anticipated that the unique train will make travel easier and assist the Railways in better controlling crowd flow. From December 27 to December 31, 2025, Special Reserved Train No. 04081 will travel from New Delhi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra. The train will leave New Delhi at 11:45 p.m. and arrive in Katra the next day at midday. It would stop at the stations of Panipat, Kurukshetra, Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana, Jalandhar Cantt, Pathankot Cantt, Jammu, and Shaheed Captain Tushar Mahajan (Udhampur).
From December 28, 2025, to January 1, 2026, special reserved train number 04082 will travel from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra to New Delhi. It would leave Katra at 9:20 p.m. and reach New Delhi at 10 a.m. the following day, with stops in Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot Cantt, Jalandhar Cantt, Ludhiana, Ambala Cantt, Kurukshetra, and Panipat. The special train was introduced, according to Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Northern Railway’s Jammu Division, to accommodate the increasing number of tourists and local residents’ travel needs during the vacation season.
He noted that despite reducing traffic on conventional trains, the train service will enable travelers to spend time with their loved ones during the New Year’s festivities. There will be sixteen carriages on the special reserved train. Tickets can be purchased via authorized booking agents, the official Indian Railways website, or the company’s mobile application. Before starting their travel, passengers are encouraged by railway officials to check train schedules and timings.
