MP Pratibha Singh called on railways minister Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Tuesday and requested him to expand the railway network in the state, besides ordering a fresh inspection of century-old Kalka-Shimla rail line to check its traffic worthiness.
She told him that the state had remained neglected as far as expansion of railway network was concerned. She requested Kharge to accord top priority to sanctioning future projects for the state.
She also demanded that the Bilaspur-Bhanupali-Manali-Leh railway line should be declared as project of national importance and should be fully funded by the union government keeping in view of its strategic importance from defense point of view.
Demanding adequate budgetary allocation for early and timely completion of the Nangal-Talwara railway line, the work on which has been going on at snail's pace for the past many years, she urged for broad gauge railway line from Kalka to Baddi keeping in view of the growth of the industrial sector in the region.
She requested for fresh survey of railways overbridges and railways underbridges on the Shimla-Kalka line to assess the strength of these bridges, saying that these bridges were 100-year old and had turned bad due to continuous use.
{{/usCountry}}She requested for fresh survey of railways overbridges and railways underbridges on the Shimla-Kalka line to assess the strength of these bridges, saying that these bridges were 100-year old and had turned bad due to continuous use.
{{/usCountry}}She also demanded that all tunnels on the Shimla -Kalka railway line should be assessed by technical experts from passengers' safety point of view.
She said the railways could play an important role in promoting tourism and economic activities in the state and asked for plying more trains to metro cities from Kalka and Una stations so that tourists could be facilitated.
She also demanded railways expansion in Kangra valley which had immense scope for expansion.