Udhampur: Railway authorities yesterday conducted successful trial run of a train on 25-km-long Udhampur-Katra track, which will improve connectivity to the base camp of Mata Vaishnodevi cave shrine.
“Test run of train on Udhampur-Katra track has been conducted yesterday.
It was successful,” a senior police officer said.
General Manager, Northern Railways, D K Gupta was on board a special train with 14 boggies during the test run.
The direct rail connectivity to Katra, the base camp for the Vaishno Devi shrine, will become a reality for passengers after its inauguration any time in January next year, sources said.
Earlier, the authorities had conducted a trial on December 7 when a light power engine was run from Udhampur to Katra.
The GM on reaching Udhampur station went through the station to check all required necessities to open the Udhampur-Katra track and later left for Katra station through special train.
After going through regular test runs, being conducted to ensure safety of passengers, the track is ready to be thrown open.
A senior Railway's official said on condition of anonymity that a VVIP is likely to inaugurate the service by the beginning of next year.
“Though no date has been finalised officially, it is mostly likely that the train service will be operational in January,” he said.
