Responding to the long-pending demand of the Muslim community, the railways have finally extended the Amritsar-Jaipur Express up to Ajmer Sharif with a new stoppage at the Malerkotla railway station.
Member of parliament from Sangrur, Vijayinder Singla, on Sunday night, flagged of the train from Malerkotla. The train earlier halted at the Dhuri and Sunam railway stations in the Sangrur district.
With the extension, people would now be better connected with the shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti in Ajmer and other religious places in Pushkar in Rajasthan.
Not only people from the nearby districts, but the entire Punjabi community living in Ajmer and Pushkar would now have direct access to Amritsar, especially the Golden Temple.
The extension had been announced in the last railway budget and railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had assured the people of implementing the decision during his visit to Sangrur in December last.
Singla said the train would also give fillip to businesspersons travelling to Amritsar and Jaipur.
“The increased accessibility to Sangrur will help in attracting investors to this otherwise industrially backward area, besides helping the local residents to visit famous shrines conveniently,” Singla said.
{{/usCountry}}“The increased accessibility to Sangrur will help in attracting investors to this otherwise industrially backward area, besides helping the local residents to visit famous shrines conveniently,” Singla said.
{{/usCountry}}Timing of the train
Departure from Amritsar on Friday and Sunday: 5.50pm
Arrival at Malerkotla: 9.15pm
Arrival at Ajmer: 9.55am next day
Departure from Ajmer on Monday and Wednesday: 5.55pm
Arrival at Malerkotla: 6.15am next day
Arrival at Amritsar: 10.35 pm