After the start of the direct train services to Katra township, base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, the Jammu Railway Station is witnessing mad rush of passengers to board the DMU train to enjoy the ‘joyride’.
Apart from regular pilgrims and daily passengers traveling on the Jammu-Udhampur route, the railway authorities have to struggle hard to control the rush of first-time visitors to Katra flocking the Jammu Railway Station.
The situation at the Katra Railway Station is no different. Thousands of pilgrims after performing darshan inside the holy cave shrine are reaching Katra Railway Station to have a first hand account of the modern passenger facilities.
The green patch on the railway platform and other modern amenities at the Katra Railway are a source of attraction for passengers waiting to reach home comfortably.
After the inauguration of the rail link by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, the Railway authorities at the Jammu Railway Station were surprised to record huge presence of passengers waiting for the arrival of DMU train on the weekend.The platform was packed to the capacity posing security threat to the passengers since early morning. Ticket counters remained choc-a-block. The charm of traveling by train to Katra is overwhelming and the pilgrims reaching here are rescheduling their travel plans to board a DMU train.
A group of devotees from Delhi who arrived here by early morning train waited till afternoon to board the DMU train to Katra. Aditya Tandon, devotee hailing from New Delhi said, the Katra train service has cut down our travel expenses. In Rs 20 one can reach Katra whereas transport bus charges around Rs 50 per passenger and Rs 900(approximately) is minimum Taxi fare to reach Katra from Jammu.
Another local tourist from Jammu, Manik Gupta, heading towards Katra said, the traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway poses great difficulty during peak hours. The train travel will ease the situation on the highway as well and compared to road journey rail travel is safe and more enjoyable.Ironically, the office of the Taxi operators Union, located on the foot steps of the railway station almost wore a deserted look. Passengers opting for personal Taxi has drastically come down despite peak season.
President of the Taxi Operators Union Devinder Choudhary has already expressed serious apprehension of declining tourist traffic opting for exclusive Taxi service after the start of train services to Katra.