Extra coaches may not be required after all, HC told : The Tribune India

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Extra coaches may not be required after all, HC told

CHANDIGARH:The Punjab and Haryana High Court was today told that extra coaches may not be required after all to accommodate the rush of commuters following the closure of the Chandigarh Airport for runway repair in February.



Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 18

The Punjab and Haryana High Court was today told that extra coaches may not be required after all to accommodate the rush of commuters following the closure of the Chandigarh Airport for runway repair in February.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, Ambala Divisional Railway Manager Dinesh Sharma appeared before the special Bench of Justice AK Mittal and Justice Amit Rawal.

He stated that three Shatabdi trains were running from here. Two were from Chandigarh to Delhi and one from Kalka to Delhi. He said Kalka-Delhi Shatabdi already had the maximum number of coaches possible. As such, extra coaches could not be added.

On the other hand, extra coaches in Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi could be added as per the demand. He, at the same time, told the Bench that there were a number of vacant seats in February. As such, extra coaches would not be required. The Court recorded his statement.

The Bench was also told that bills of Rs 33 crore of the contractor carrying out the up-gradation work was pending. The amount would be around Rs 50 crore by month-end. Taking a note of the assertion, the Bench asked the Union Ministry of Defence to release the payment till January 29.

Dissatisfied with the Railway’s inability to respond to a query on arranging extra coaches or running special trains from February 12 to 26 following Airport closure for runway repair, the High Court had earlier asked the Divisional Railway Manager to appear.

The High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had put query for preventing inconvenience to passengers travelling between the UT and the National Capital for international and other flights. The query came during the hearing of an ongoing petition on taking Chandigarh International Airport to new heights by improving the infrastructure, introducing better facilities and starting more flights.

The Bench, during the course of hearing, also impleaded the railway authorities as party in the case. The airport authorities have already made it clear that no civil and military flight will operate from Chandigarh following runway resurfacing work by the Indian Air Force from February 12 to 26, 2018.

The authorities have also claimed that the runway length was being extended from the present 9,000 feet to 10,400 feet to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft, such as Boeing 777, 787 and 747 for facilitating long haul flights from Chandigarh to destinations in Europe, US, Canada and the UK.

The Mohali Industries Association had earlier moved the High Court seeking directions to the Union of India to submit a status report on re-carpeting and up-gradation of runway.

The developments took place during the hearing of a petition filed by the Mohali Industries Association against non-operation of the Chandigarh International Airport.

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