It's nothing about hurting your sentiments , or berating Udhampur in any manner . The thing is that,
1. Long distance trains to Jammu/Udhampur/Katra are mostly taken by tourists/pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi , and the rest of the crowd is constituted by locals and Army personnels . Based on my personal experience, Even when in 2008-2011 when Jammu mail and USK used to originate/terminate at Udhampur , they were filled/emptied mainly at Jammu Tawi . Udhampur is an important district of J&k , no doubt , but cannot provide...
more... a patronage like Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra or Jammu Tawi do.
2. Some weekly trains at Udhampur (except Janmabhoomi) to durg, Indore are running upto Udhampur, due to space constraints at Shri mata Vaishno Devi Katra.
3. The connectivity (bus/auto/taxi) at station have improved, but the station is located rather afar from the main city, and lacks seamless round the clock road connectivity options to Vaishno Devi Shrine and beyond , in comparison to Jammu and Katra stations.
4.Jammu Mail provides a dedicated connectivity from many small and big stations to Delhi .Today, It has 7 sleeper coaches in comparison to 2 in trains like USK . If 22431/32 is not getting filled up / running relatively vacant from Udhampur , it should have been considered for extension to Katra by adjusting TT and making it daily . Messing up an old dedicated connectivity of Jammu region to Delhi is not a very sane decision by NR in my opinion .
You may disagree here , but I respect all varied opinions.
5. Some railfans do at times prefer to address stations by their original old names , be it Udhampur , Allahabad , faizabad or Mughalsarai. They do not intend to offend you , No need to be annoyed about it .
please wait...Translate to EnglishYo, it ain't about dissing ya feelings or hating on Udhampur in any way, man. The deal is this:
1. Most peeps catching the long-haul trains to Jammu/Udhampur/Katra are either tourists heading to Mata Vaishno Devi or locals and Army folks. From what I've seen, even back in 2008-2011, when Jammu Mail and USK started from/ended in Udhampur, they were mainly crowded/empty in Jammu Tawi. Udhampur is a crucial district in J&K for sure, but it can't pull in passengers like Katra or Jammu Tawi do.
2. Some weekly trains at Udhampur (excluding Janmabhoomi) to Durg, Indore run all the way to Udhampur due to limited space at Katra.
3. The bus/auto/taxi options at the station have gotten better, but the station's pretty far from the main city. It also doesn't have seamless 24/7 road connections to Vaishno Devi Shrine and beyond compared to Jammu and Katra stations.
4. Jammu Mail links up many small and big stations to Delhi. It's got 7 sleeper coaches while trains like USK only have 2. If 22431/32 ain't filling up much from Udhampur, it could be extended to Katra by tweaking the schedule and making it a daily thing. Scrapping a long-standing Delhi-Jammu connection doesn't seem wise to me.
5. Some diehard rail buffs might still call stations by their old names like Udhampur, Allahabad, Faizabad, or Mughalsarai. They ain't doing it to tick you off, so no need to get bent out of shape about it.