Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced a new rail line between Rajpura and Mohali in Punjab. The long-awaited 18-km rail link will cost Rs 443 crore and will connect the Malwa region with the state capital Chandigarh.
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Vaishnaw said demands to link the region directly with the capital were being raised since the 1960s.
“The region in a way has been disconnected with Chandigarh. Currently, the trains passing via Ludhiana have to go through Ambala to reach Chandigarh. This adds extra distance and time,” said the minister, adding that the direct connection from Rajpura to Mohali will further connect with the Chandigarh line.
The new project is expected to reduce the travel distance by approximately 66 km. It will also reduce the traffic on the existing Rajpura-Ambala route and shorten the Ambala-Morinda link.
Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu said there were many options for the rail link but this 18-km route was chosen as it will
require the least land acquisition and have minimum impact on farming activities.
The Ministry of Railways also proposed a new Vande Bharat train connecting Firozpur Cantt., Bhatinda, Patiala and Delhi, covering a distance of 486 km in 6 hours and 40 minutes.
Apart from the Rajpura-Mohali line, a total of seven major railway projects are being executed in Punjab, including the Nangal Dam-Talwara new line (123 km), Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri new line (63 km) and Ferozpur-Patti new line (26 km). Firozpur-Patti rail line will provide connectivity between Punjab’s border districts (Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Firozpur) and Gujarat ports, forming an economic corridor.
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