Punjab: Railways to resume work on long pending 40 km Qadian-Beas rail line

Chandigarh, Dec 6 (PTI) The Railways have decided to resume work on the long-pending 40 km Qadian-Beas rail line in Punjab, Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu said on Saturday.

Bittu directed officials to 'defreeze' the project.

The rail line had earlier been placed in the 'freeze' category due to alignment challenges, land acquisition hurdles, and local-level political complications.

In Railway terminology, a project is 'frozen' when it is put into cold storage because authorities are unable to proceed for various reasons.

'Defreezing' signals a revival and work resumes once all bottlenecks are addressed.

In a statement, Bittu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw have already made clear that there is no dearth of money for railway projects in Punjab.

"I am also tirelessly working to initiate new projects, complete pending projects and revive the projects which were dumped due to unforeseen reasons. Mohali-Rajpura, Ferozpur-Patti and now Qadian-Beas, I was fully aware of how important this line is.

"That's why I instructed officials to clear all obstacles and restart construction. This new track will give a vital boost to the struggling industrial units of Batala, the region's 'steel town'," said Bittu.

A letter issued by the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Northern Railway said, "The Railway Board desires that the Qadian'“Beas line be 'defreezed' and the detailed estimate re-submitted and sanctioned at the earliest so that construction can begin." The project was originally sanctioned in 1929 by the British government and taken up by the North-Western Railway. By 1932, nearly one-third of the work had been completed before the project was abruptly shelved.

The Railways classified it as a 'socially desirable project' and included it in the 2010 Railway Budget.

But financial concerns raised by the then Planning Commission caused the work to stall once again. Under the 'socially desirable projects' category, the Railways focus on inclusive growth by providing affordable, accessible transport services, even when such ventures are not revenue-driven. PTI CHS NB NB