What began as a temporary disruption in August last year, after several rail bridges were damaged following flash floods, has now turned into a prolonged ordeal for rail passengers in the Jammu region.
Northern Railway on Thursday announced further extension of cancellations and curtailed operations of several trains till June, offering partial relief with the resumption of Vande Bharat services in April.
Rail passengers travelling to and from Jammu and the pilgrimage hubs of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK), Udhampur (UHP) and Jammu Tawi (JAT) will continue to face disruptions for the next few months.
While a few services are set to be restored from 1 April, a large number of long-distance and premium trains connecting Jammu with Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh will remain affected till the end of May and early June.
Amid the extended disruptions, there is relief for passengers as the New Delhi–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express (22439/22440) will be restored from 2 April after remaining cancelled till 31 March.
Similarly, the BGKT–Jammu Tawi and Jammu Tawi–BGKT trains, which were earlier curtailed up to Pathankot, will resume full service to and from Jammu from 1/2 April.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jammu, Uchit Singhal, said the changes have been necessitated due to operational constraints in the Jammu Division and passengers are requested to plan their travel accordingly.
Among the major cancellations till June are Garib Rath Express between Jammu Tawi and Kathgodam/Kanpur, Jammu–Delhi Duronto Express, Kalka–Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Express, Delhi–Udhampur AC Express, and Tirupati–Jammu Humsafar Express.
These trains will now remain cancelled up to late May or early June 2026, extending beyond their earlier notified cancellation dates in March.
Key trains affected under short termination/short origination include; Durg–MCTM Superfast Express (terminating at Jalandhar Cantt/UMB), Sabarmati–Jammu Express (terminating at Firozpur), SBIB–SVDK Express (terminating at Amritsar), Jammu Mail (terminating at Ambala), Kota–MCTM Weekly Express (terminating at Ludhiana) and Indore–UHP Express (terminating at Jalandhar Cantt).