Prabhu to flag off Kalka-Katra train on Friday

Two years after it was announced, the Kalka-Katra train will finally be on track from Saturday.

The new bi-weekly express train - Kalka-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra - would be flagged off on Saturday on its inaugural run at 1.40pm by union railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu through remote control from Bhuntar airport, in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.

The train will comprise a total of 16 coaches having the composition of 2-tier AC (1 coach), 3-tier AC (2 coaches), sleeper (5 coaches) and unreserved (6 coaches) and second class luggage rake (SLR) (2 coaches).

The train will depart every Tuesday and Friday from Kalka at 7pm and will reach Katra on Wednesday and Saturday at 4:45am. The train will have stoppages at Chandigarh, SAS Nagar, New Morinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar Cantt, Pathankot Cantt, Jammu Tawi and Udhampur.

On its return journey, the train will leave Katra every Wednesday and Saturday at 9.30pm and will reach Kalka on Thursday and Sunday at 7:50am.

At Kalka, local MP Rattan Lal Kataria and MLA Latika Sharma will be present to see off the train.