According to Indian Railway officials, "unavoidable circumstances" have caused the Vande Bharat Express between Srinagar and Jammu to postpone its March 1 inauguration.A top Railway officer stated, "The Railway Board has put the notification program of Vande Bharat extension from March 1 on hold until further advice due to some unavoidable circumstances."
The much-anticipated train service that will link Srinagar and Jammu on March 1 was announced by Northern Railway just hours before to the announcement. In order to connect the two capital cities of J&K and to give Kashmir seamless rail connectivity with the rest of the nation, there is a significant need to extend rail service from Srinagar-Katra to Jammu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat train service in June of last year. The establishment of the historic train service was a first step toward rail connectivity between Kashmir and the rest of the nation.
The next significant milestone, a direct connection between Srinagar and Jammu, was revealed by Northern Railways on Tuesday. The Railways also stated that the Vande Bharat train between Katra and Srinagar will now have 20 carriages instead of the current eight in order to improve accessibility and seamless connection.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Katra-Srinagar train service has emerged as a popular means of transportation. However, the service is unable to handle the traffic because of the restricted number of coaches and train frequency.
While direct rail service between Kashmir and the rest of the country is still a pipe dream, the launch of train service between Srinagar and Jammu was warmly lauded as a historic step. Passengers traveling from or to Srinagar must transship at the station because regular rail services only go as far as Katra.
The Srinagar-Katra Vande Bharat train's extension to Jammu is considered a step closer to establishing a direct rail service between Srinagar and Delhi, even though passenger transshipment will still occur.