Delhi to Kashmir: train, flight or road?

Compare the options

Flight: Air India Express fare page and a flight-schedule listing, read 24 October 2026. Train: fares listed on erail.in on 24 October 2026, plus the Jammu Tawi–Srinagar fares News Arena reported on 21 August 2026. Bus: FlixBus. Road: the Srinagar district site. Details and links below.

Is there a direct train from Delhi to Srinagar?

No. A search for trains from New Delhi to Srinagar on NTES, Indian Railways’ train enquiry system, returned “No train found: NDLS - SINA” on 24 October 2026, and erail.in, a third-party timetable site, showed “No direct trains found” on 23 October. Outlook reported on 13 January 2026 that “those who travel from Delhi to Srinagar or vice versa have to change trains at Katra”. Since regular services began on 2 May 2026, ETV Bharat reported, the Kashmir Vande Bharat trains have started from Jammu Tawi, so you can now change there or at Katra.

A railway official told Outlook, “We are looking at operating sleeper trains from Delhi to Srinagar.” We found no announced start date for a direct train (checked 23 October 2026).

Delhi to Srinagar by train: three ways to connect

Times and days of running as listed on NTES, Indian Railways’ train enquiry system, on 24 October 2026; erail.in and confirmtkt.com show the same times. NTES gives 26403’s Srinagar arrival as 18:05; ETV Bharat’s report of 29 April 2026 gives 18:00. The Katra departures match the timetable PTI reported in June 2025. Check NTES or IRCTC before you travel.

• The same-day pairing is tight. The change at Jammu Tawi is 37 minutes on paper, and the Delhi train has run hours late: about five hours in fog on 22 December 2025, The Week reported, and more than three hours in July 2025, after a freight train engine derailed in heavy rain in Kathua district, according to The Tribune. If you miss the 13:20, the next Vande Bharat to Srinagar leaves Jammu Tawi at 06:20 the next morning, or at 13:20 if that day is a Tuesday.
• The overnight pairing leaves 80 minutes at Jammu Tawi. The daily Uttar Sampark Kranti (12445) also connects: it leaves New Delhi at 20:50 and reaches Jammu Tawi at 05:25.
• Both Delhi Vande Bharats skip Wednesdays, and so does 26403. 26401 skips Tuesdays.

Timings, stops and the Chenab bridge are in our Vande Bharat guide.

Train fares from Delhi

Adult general-quota fares shown on IRCTC, Indian Railways’ booking site, on 24 October 2026 for travel on Thursday 5 November 2026; the New Delhi–Katra row is as listed on erail.in the same day. The Jammu Tawi–Srinagar fares match what News Arena reported on 21 August 2026. The Rajdhani uses flexi fares that rise as seats sell: erail’s base fares were ₹1,295 (3-tier AC) and ₹1,725 (2-tier), and IRCTC already showed ₹1,705 and ₹2,300 for 5 November. erail notes “Fare includes food cost” for the Rajdhani and “Fare does not include food cost” for the Vande Bharat trains. IRCTC shows the final price when you book.

On these figures, the overnight pairing costs ₹2,560 (Rajdhani 3-tier AC at the 5 November flexi fare, plus the 06:20 in chair car) and the same-day pairing ₹2,380 in chair car. The cheapest reserved option we found is sleeper class to Jammu Tawi (₹385), then a JKRTC bus or the train; bus fares from Jammu are in Jammu to Srinagar.

How to book the train

1. Book each train. Because no train runs all the way, you need a ticket for each one. The Srinagar district administration says to book “online at irctc.co.in or through the IRCTC Rail Connect app”.
2. Book early. Indian Railways cut advance booking “from 120 days to 60 days” from 1 November 2024, The Tribune reported. So seats for the last week of December go on sale from late October.
3. Expect a rush in summer. On the Kashmir line, seats “fill quickly, especially during summer season”, according to the Srinagar district site.

If a 37-minute change feels too tight, take the overnight pairing or spend a night in Jammu or Katra.

By air: about 1 hour 25 minutes

• Flights. Kvikr, a flight-schedule site, listed 16 non-stop flights from Delhi to Srinagar for Saturday 24 October 2026, on Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, averaging 1 hour 31 minutes. Air India Express gives its non-stop time as “Approx. 1h 25m”; IndiGo says “around 1.5 hours”.
• Evening flights are coming back. On that listing every flight left Delhi between 06:40 and 14:30. Srinagar’s 8 am–5 pm limit has been withdrawn, and the winter schedule starts on 25 October 2026, with airlines “filing slots for late-evening flights”, Kashmir Observer reported on 19 October.
• Fares. On 24 October 2026, Air India Express showed one-way fares “From ₹6,128” for October 2026, “From ₹6,737” for November, “From ₹7,889” for December and “From ₹8,255” for January and February 2027. It says these were collected within the previous 48 hours. IndiGo’s route page puts the price “around INR 6,000 to INR 15,000”, depending on when you book.
• When to book. “Book flights 3–4 weeks in advance during April–October peak season,” the Srinagar district site advises.

Taxis from the airport, security checks and snow days are in our Srinagar airport guide.

By bus: about 20 hours

• FlixBus runs “2 daily departures” from Delhi to Srinagar, the first at 20:25, taking “around 19 hours 55 minutes”, with tickets from ₹1,959, according to its route page on 24 October 2026. It picks up at 28 stops in Delhi, including Kashmere Gate and Anand Vihar ISBTs. Its Srinagar stops are listed as “Drop by Cab” and “Pickup by Cab” points in Rainawari and Durgjan, so ask how the last stretch works when you book.
• Volvo and sleeper buses. “Several private operators run Volvo and sleeper buses” on the Delhi–Jammu–Srinagar route, bookable on “online booking portals like redBus or IRCTC Bus”, says the Srinagar district site. We found no operator page naming the Volvo 9600 model on this route (checked 23 October 2026).
• JKRTC, the government bus corporation, lists a Delhi office (011-23864581) on its website and takes online bookings at starbus.jk.gov.in. We found no current Delhi timetable there: its timetable files date from December 2021.

By road: about 800 km on NH 44

The Srinagar district site puts Delhi to Srinagar at “~800 km” and “15–18 hrs” on NH 44 via Jammu, and the last 290 km, from Jammu, at 6–7 hours through the Banihal–Qazigund tunnel. It warns that NH 44 “can be affected by landslides or snowfall particularly in winter (November–March)” and says to check the J&K Traffic Police advisories before you travel. Recent closures, one-way days and taxi fares from Jammu are in Jammu to Srinagar.

A new road is on the way, not finished. Once complete, the Delhi–Amritsar–Katra Expressway, “approximately 680-km”, is meant to cut Delhi–Katra to “about six” hours, Business Today reported on 8 September 2026. It gave no opening date for the full road.

Winter: fog in Delhi, snow in Kashmir

December and January bring two kinds of delay: fog at the Delhi end and snow at the Kashmir end. Last winter:

1. 10 Dec 2025 – 10 Feb 2026
   The aviation regulator, DGCA, set this as the season’s official fog window, ETV Bharat reported; under its Fog Care scheme, Air India offered customers the chance “to reschedule their flights without charge or request a full refund”.
2. 22 Dec 2025
   Over 50 trains ran late in dense fog, and the New Delhi–Katra Vande Bharat was about five hours late, The Week reported.
3. 29 Dec 2025
   Delhi airport cancelled 64 flights for fog, and about 18 Delhi-bound trains ran more than three hours late, News On Air reported.
4. 23 Jan 2026
   Heavy snow: all flights to and from Srinagar were cancelled for the day, and NH 44 was shut near the Navyug tunnel, according to Skymet.
5. 27 Jan 2026
   58 flights at Srinagar were cancelled, 29 arriving and 29 departing, Kashmir Life reported.
6. 3 Feb 2026
   Citing “bad weather and the closure of roads and flights”, railway authorities permitted four special trains between Katra and Srinagar over two days, News On Air reported.

From December to February, keep a spare day before any onward connection and check your train or flight before you leave. More on winter roads and snow is in Kashmir in winter and Kashmir in December.

From Mumbai, Kolkata or Chennai

• Mumbai: Kvikr listed three non-stop flights to Srinagar for 24 October 2026, on Akasa Air, Air India and IndiGo, averaging 2 hours 40 minutes. By train, the Swaraj Express (12471) runs from Bandra Terminus to Katra four days a week in about 31 hours, according to erail.
• Kolkata: Kvikr listed no non-stop flight to Srinagar. The Kolkata–Jammu Tawi Express (13151) runs daily in about 45 hours.
• Chennai: Kvikr listed no non-stop flight. The Andaman Express (16031) runs from Chennai Central to Katra three days a week in about 55 hours.

From Jammu Tawi or Katra, the train plans above apply.

After Srinagar: road times to the resorts

Estimated road times according to the Go Kashmir app as of 23 October 2026. Snow can add a lot in winter.

The Go Kashmir app shows an estimated road time from Srinagar on every place card, with the season, entry and permit notes. Before you plan day trips, check which places are closed to tourists under orders that run to 31 December 2026: the official list as on 7 July 2026 names 30, including Chandanwari and Baisaran in Anantnag district. See what’s closed. Official travel advisories, quoted with dates, are in Is Kashmir safe to visit?

Delhi to Kashmir questions