Udhampur is a city and a municipal council in Udhampur District in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Situated among lush green forests of Eucalyptus, it is the second-largest city of the Jammu region and the fourth-largest city in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Named after Raja Udham Singh, it serves as the district capital and the Northern Command headquarters of the Indian Army. A Forward Base Support Unit (FBSU) of the Indian Air Force is also stationed here. Udhampur is used by the Armed Forces as a transit point between Jammu and Srinagar when travelling by road (National Highway Number 1A). Talking of Udhampur city in particular the climate is sub tropical. Summer temperatures don't cross 40 degrees while in winters mercury generally dips to 2 degrees or even sometimes to zero. Heavy downpour is also experienced. The annual rainfall is 130 cm mainly in monsoons and winters due to Western Disturbances. Ramnagar town nearby experiences heaviest annual rainfall in a year. Udhampur rarely experiences snow fall while there may be snow in upper reaches. However, due to changing climate patterns snowfall has been experienced in some years. In the year 2011 it snowed and there was about 15 cm snow. Heavy hailstorms with piles of hail can be experienced in February and March. Udhampur is well connected by road as it is located on National Highway 1A to Srinagar, which is the only national highway that connects Srinagar to the rest of India. 95 percent of Four laning work on Jammu-Udhampur National Highway is complete and remaining will be completed in few months. Bus services (both private and state owned) are the most common mode of public transportation to and from Udhampur. Frequent connections to the Kashmir Valley and Jammu are easily available. The town was recently connected by the new Kashmir Railway line leg 0 from Jammu which is part of a wider project to connect the Kashmir valley with the rest of India via a rail link. The Uttar Sampark Kranti Express train from New Delhi was the first train to run on this link in 2005. Commuter unresrved passenger trains linking Jammu and Udhampur (and pathankot also) also run on a daily basis and are quite popular. The rail link to Katra is also complete. Many more trains from different parts of the country are expected to pass by the city. More recently, three more trains were extended/run till Udhampur.
