Jammu, 7 June (H.S.): A family from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, travelling in the first Katra-Srinagar bound Vande Bharat Express on Saturday celebrated the birthday of their six-year-old son on the world’s highest Chenab rail bridge to make the occasion memorable.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Katra-Srinagar train from Katra and dedicated the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail Link (USBRL) to the nation, devotees of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi at Katra boarded the first Vande Bharat train on Saturday morning to experience a journey to Kashmir.

The family from Varanasi cut a cake on the world’s highest railway bridge. to make the journey memorable.

Rakesh Jaiswal and Neha Jaiswal of Varanasi, along with their three children, reached Katra on Saturday morning.

As soon as the family came to know that the Vande Bharat Express connecting the Kashmir Valley to the country is leaving from Katra to Srinagar, the family got their reservation done at Katra after visiting the Vaishnodevi temple.

“As soon as we got the booking confirmation for this train, we planned to celebrate the birthday of our six-year-old son Moksh Jaiswal, whose birthday falls on June 7, on the world’s highest railway bridge,” they said while travelling in the train.

Having Chair car seats reserved in coach C7, the Jaiswal family, with cake and candles ready, started preparing for the birthday celebration in the train as soon as the train crossed the Anji Bridge. And when it reached the world’s highest bridge, the family began the cake cutting in the coach while other passengers also wished their son.

Moksh’s mother, Neha Jaiswal, said, “This birthday is very special for him. We had never thought that we would celebrate his birthday in this way on the world’s highest railway bridge.”

However, the enthusiasm of the passengers to travel in the first Katra-Srinagar train was very high, and as soon as train 26401 ‘Vande Bharat Express’ left Katra for Srinagar, the excitement among the passengers was at a different level.

Among the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, who had come to Katra from all over the country, many of them booked tickets and decided to complete their journey to Srinagar.

Amid the chants of ‘Jai Mata Ki’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, the first train started its historic journey.

The passengers said that they were happy that they got this opportunity to travel in the first train operating between Katra and Srinagar.

“We have been to Srinagar many times before, but reaching Srinagar in just 3 hours was like a dream come true,” a family from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar