Katra railway station, Railway station in Katra, India
Katra railway station sits at the foot of the Jammu and Kashmir mountains and has five covered platforms with lifts and escalators connecting both levels. Inside you find waiting halls, shops, and food stalls, while outside the main forecourt leads to the roads climbing toward the shrine.
The station opened in 2014 as part of the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link, bringing direct train access to the pilgrimage town for the first time. Before that, travelers had to change at Jammu and cover the remaining distance by road.
This railway station serves as the arrival point for millions of pilgrims traveling to the Vaishno Devi shrine in the mountains above. During festival months, the platforms and halls fill with groups and families in traditional clothing who often pause to pray here before continuing on foot.
The station stays open day and night and offers retiring rooms for longer waits, as well as free drinking water on every platform. Tourist assistance staff at the entrance speak Hindi, English, and Urdu and can give directions to the shrine or to guesthouses in town.
A one-megawatt solar power plant supplies electricity to the station, reducing the need for energy from the public grid. The plant was installed in 2015 on the roof and adjacent grounds and is among the first large-scale solar projects in Indian railways.
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