Haryana speaker wants Panchkula to be added to Chandigarh railway station’s name
Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker Gian Chand Gupta submitted a proposal regarding this to Passenger Services Committee (PSC) chairman Ramesh Chandra Ratn, who visited the Chandigarh railway station for an inspection on Friday.
Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker Gian Chand Gupta wants the name of Chandigarh Railway Station to be changed to Panchkula and Chandigarh Railway Station.
Gupta, who also represents Panchkula in the state assembly, submitted a proposal regarding this to Passenger Services Committee (PSC) chairman Ramesh Chandra Ratn, who visited the railway station for an inspection on Friday.
The PSC is a statutory body under Railway Board (Ministry of Railways) and is tasked with resolving grievances of passengers for the ease of railway transport in India.
“Though there is a limited availability of land towards the Chandigarh side, more development has taken place there. There are around 4,000 acres of land available for expansion towards Panchkula side, and since both cities share the same railway station, it should be named after both,” said Gupta, adding that Ratn has assured him that the proposal will be taken up at the PSC meeting on November 29.
Sub-inspector Vilayati Saini, who is the in-charge of the government railway police station here, requested the visiting team to set up a beat box towards the Panchkula side “to make people feel safe”. He claimed that many passengers have fallen prey to snatchers after exiting the railway station on the Panchkula side.
World-class makeover delayed further
Meanwhile, the railway station’s wait to get a “world-class makeover” is likely to get prolonged. The project, which was delayed till at least December 2022 because of Covid-19, is expected to face further delays.
“Earlier IRSDC was looking after the railway station, but now it is directly under the ministry. At the November 29 meeting, we will discuss how to go about this. The positive thing here is that work has started and tendering will be started soon too,” said Ratn. However, he didn’t share any time frame.
Other pending works were also discussed. It was announced that a railway underpass will be built at Baltana, Zirakpur, within six months to ease traffic congestion.
‘Start Shatabdi Express from Mohali’
Ratn also visited the Mohali railway station, where the local BJP unit urged him to get Shatabdi Express’ route extended to Mohali.
The BJP team led by Sanjeev Vashisht also requested that the Amritsar-Lalkuan Express be extended to Haldwani in Uttarakhand as many businessmen go there for work from Mohali, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and other nearby places.
Ratn also announced a reward of ₹10,000 for the Chandigarh railway station and ₹5,000 for the Mohali station for their cleanliness and housekeeping services.