World-class rly station to be reality

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 21

The much-awaited world-class railway station project will soon be a reality.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, said all modalities had been worked out and by August, work on it would begin.

The Trinamool Congress MP, along with five other MPs and railway officials, was here for an inspection of the railway station.

Vishwesh Chaubey, General Manager, Northern Railway, accompanied the delegation.

Interacting with the media, Bandyopadhyay said, “We have discussed the project in detail with the GM. The railway authorities have told us that the work will be completed in two and a half years.”

He said, “Broadly speaking, the world-class railway station will offer better services. There will better reservation counters, food facility, a commercial complex and adequate stay facility for passengers.”

Besides, it will have CCTV cameras, WiFi facility, modular water kiosks, water ATMs, LED lights, lifts, escalators, stainless steel benches and modular catering kiosks. Apart from these facilities, the waiting halls, retiring rooms and washrooms at the station will also get a facelift.

Bandyopadhyay said, “We have spoken to Northern Railway GM to increase the speed of the Shatabdi so that people can reach their destination on time.”

On the semi-high speed train, Northern Railway GM Chaubey said a French team had recently carried out a survey and submitted its report.

Asked about the status of the Tejas train, Chaubey said, “As soon as we receive the rake, the process of introducing the train will start.”

BJP MP Rattan Lal Kataria raised the issue of the Chandigarh-Baddi and the Yamunanagar-Chandigarh railway lines and development of Ambala as a world-class railway station.

Giving details about the project, BJP MLA from Panchkula Gian Chand Gupta, who attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee at Sukhvilas, a premium luxury resort in Mullapur, said in the first phase, the Railways had floated tenders of Rs 140 crore on May 15. “On May 30, these tenders will be opened and work on the project will start in August,” he said.

Gupta demanded the Metro project for the tricity and proper connectivity from Panchkula, more  reservation centres on the Panchkula side of the railway station, a waiting hall, a parking area, arrangement for commercial activities, signboards on platform number 6 and construction of a railway overbridge in Sector 19.

Decks cleared for Tejas Express

The Rail Coach Factory is all set to roll out a 19-coach rake of the Tejas Express (Chandigarh-Delhi section) within two days. Confirming this, Nitin Choudhary, Chief Public Relations Officer of the Northern Railway, said this was not enough and many other formalities needed to be addressed before rolling out the train. The Railway Board would decide about the date and time to run the Tejas Express.  Recently, the railway authorities had introduced the time table of the train and promised to take the passengers from Chandigarh to Delhi in two hours.