Tag Archives: Tourists

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw To Flag Off Extended Vande Bharat Connecting Jammu With Srinagr

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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will flag off the extended Srinagar–Katra Vande Bharat Express up to Jammu Tawi on April 30, marking a significant upgrade to rail connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir.

The move comes alongside a major capacity expansion, with the train’s rake increased from 8 to 20 coaches in response to consistently high passenger demand.

The service, which earlier terminated at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, will now run till Jammu Tawi Railway Station, directly linking the Union Territory’s largest railhead with the Kashmir Valley.

Following the ceremonial run, regular operations will begin from May 2, with two pairs of trains operating six days a week across the 266-km corridor.

The first service will depart Jammu Tawi early morning and reach Srinagar in under five hours, while a second service will offer additional morning and afternoon options from both ends, improving flexibility for travellers.

Seamless travel for pilgrims, tourists and commuters

The extension eliminates the need for passengers to change trains at Katra, a long-standing inconvenience for pilgrims heading to the Vaishno Devi shrine and tourists travelling further into the Valley. It also enables a single, uninterrupted rail journey connecting Jammu directly to Srinagar.

For pilgrims, especially those combining visits to Vaishno Devi and the Amarnath Yatra routes via Srinagar, the new service simplifies travel logistics significantly. Tourists arriving in Jammu can now access Kashmir’s key destinations entirely by rail, bypassing weather-prone mountain roads.

Boost for local mobility and business

The expanded service is expected to benefit daily commuters, including students, officials and patients travelling between Jammu and Srinagar, particularly during winter when highway closures disrupt road connectivity.

For traders and artisans, the faster and more reliable rail link is likely to ease movement of goods and reduce travel costs, strengthening economic activity across the region.

Akashwani News

Engineering backbone of the route

As part of the visit, the minister will inspect the Chenab Rail Bridge and the Anji Khad Bridge, both critical components of the Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.

The Chenab bridge, standing taller than the Eiffel Tower, and the Anji bridge represent some of the most complex railway engineering efforts undertaken in the Himalayan region.

Part of a broader rail transformation

The extension is the latest milestone in a decade-long push to modernise rail infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. The USBRL project, spanning 272 km with extensive tunnelling and bridge construction, has enabled all-weather connectivity to the Valley.

The first Vande Bharat service on the route was flagged off by Narendra Modi in June 2025. The latest extension now brings that high-speed service to a wider population base, linking Jammu more directly with Kashmir’s economic and tourism circuits.

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Hungary’s tourism bounces back to pre-pandemic level; International visitors increased

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Tourism in Hungary has bounced back to the pre-pandemic level, with 16.4 million guest nights registered this summer, the Hungarian Tourism Agency (MTU) said.

This is the same level as the summer of 2019, Xinhua news agency quoted the MTU as saying.

MTU welcomed the fact that domestic tourism has maintained its momentum in recent years.

“About 10.5 million of the guest nights were spent by domestic visitors in accommodation facilities, which is 12 per cent more than the data for the summer of 2019,” it said.

Hungary was able to welcome 2.5 times more international visitors this summer than in the summer of 2021, MTU added.

Hungary: People wearing face masks are seen on the elevator of a subway station in Budapest

In 2021, the proportion of foreign visitors was 20 per cent in the three summer months (June, July and August).

Meanwhile, this year it rose to 36 per cent, accounting for nearly 6 million international guest nights.

The famous Lake Balaton retained its title as the number one destination, with more than 5.4 million guests staying there, accounting for 41 per cent of total rural accommodation turnover.

The largest proportion of guests in the countryside were Hungarian (75 per cent of total guests), while in Budapest, 83 per cent of total guests this summer were foreign tourists.

Covid/commons.wikimedia.org

The largest numbers of tourists visiting Budapest came from the UK, Germany, the US, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands.

MTU also said that the general hotel-room occupancy rate stood at 60 per cent nationally during the three summer months.

Providing of Facilities for Tourists at Temples, Monuments and Tourist Spots

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Ministry of Tourism has undertaken various measures/initiatives to provide facilitation and make tourist places accessible to the differently abled and to provide safety and security to tourists as per following details:

I. 24×7 Toll Free Multi-Lingual Tourist Info-Helpline in 12 Languages to provide support service in terms of information and guidance to tourists.

II. All the infrastructure developed under the Schemes of Swadesh Darshan and National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) are designed barrier free to provide easy accessibility to differently abled tourists. All State Governments/Union Territory Administrations are required to submit an undertaking along with the proposal before sanctioning of project certifying that barrier free environment for differently abled tourists has been incorporated in the design of the built-up areas of the project.

III. Ministry of Tourism, under its voluntary scheme guidelines for classification/re-classification of operational hotels, has made it mandatory for hotels to earmark at least one room with suitable furniture and customized washroom facilities, ramp with anti-slip floors, wheel chair to be available on a complimentary basis in hotels of all categories, designated parking places etc. for the differently abled.

IV. Transport Operators Association has been advised to provide adequate facility in the tourist cars/buses for differently-abled tourists.

V. Handing over Welcome Cards to foreign tourists on arrival to provide useful tips.

VI. Some State Governments/Union Territory Administrations have deployed Tourist Police, in one form or the other.

VII. Launching of Code of Conduct for adoption by the Indian Travel and Tourism Industry for Safe and Honourable Tourism with the objective to encourage undertaking of tourism activities with respect to basic rights like dignity, safety and freedom from exploitation of both tourists and local residents, in particular women and children.

VIII. Advisories are issued from time to time to various State Governments and UT Administrations to ensure safety and security of the tourist.

Providing facilities at Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, Ganesh Tekdi in Nagpur falls under jurisdiction of the State Government. Various tourist amenities are provided by Archeological Survey of India and State Archeology at the forts falling under their jurisdiction. In respect of Maharashtra, Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned an amount of Rs.82.17 Crore for the development of Sindhudurg Coastal Circuit under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme during the year 2015-16.

This information was given by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.