Railway line to connect Chandigarh and Mukerian

The railway line from Chandigarh station that currently goes up to Daulatpur Chowk in Himachal Pradesh will be extended by about 53km to reach Mukerian in Punjab

The railway line from Chandigarh station that currently goes up to Daulatpur Chowk in Himachal Pradesh will be extended by about 53km to reach Mukerian in Punjab.

General manager of Northern Railways, Ashutosh Gangal, during the annual inspection of Ambala division on Monday. (HT Photo)

This was stated by the general manager of Northern Railways, Ashutosh Gangal, while he went for the annual inspection of Ambala division on Monday.

Gangal said, “The purpose of this extension is to provide an alternative alignment and access to stations in Himachal Pradesh which are connected through this line.”

He said there were some landholding issues which had delayed the project, but the Railways have reached out to both Punjab and Haryana governments. If the issues are resolved, officials hope that this line will be operational by next year.

On a query about high fare in unreserved class trains resumed recently in the division, Gangal said the reason behind this is to reduce passenger load.

“We don’t know when the pandemic will end, but to give the long-route passengers an option, we resumed 50 such trains last month. When the situation improves, we will surely reduce the fare,” he added.

On renovation of Chandigarh Railway Station, divisional railway manager, Ambala, Gurinder Mohan Singh, said the contract has been kept in abeyance for at least six months by the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC).

It is likely that the last date for this will be pushed further after it had been extended up to December 2022, he added. Officials said not many bidders are turning up for the commercial plots towards Panchkula side.