Express train on Pathankot- Baijnath route

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, February 3

The Railways on Sunday introduced a new express train on the narrow gauge Kangra valley rail line between Pathankot and Baijnath to reduce the travel time between Pathankot and Jogindernagar.

A senior Railway officer said new coaches with seating capacity of 40x40 had been introduced on the route similar to the Shimla-Kalka rail line.

In the first phase, the train will run between Pathankot and Baijnath daily. The train will start from Pathankot at 9.20am and will reach Baijnath at 2.25pm covering a distance of 100 km in five hours. Earlier, the same distance was covered in more than seven hours.

On return journey, the train will leave Baijnath at 4.30pm and reach Pathankot at 9.35pm. The train will stop only at selected railway stations like Baijnath, Palampur, Nagrota Bagwan, Kangra, Jwalamukhi Road and Pathankot. The halt of the train at these stations will be only for two minutes.

Wi-Fi Internet facility will also be provided at all railway stations between Pathankot and Jogindernagar. The authorities on the directions of Railway Minister Piyush Goel have started a project to give a new lease of life to the 90 years old rail section. It has planned to provide the best possible facilities to the travellers so that more tourists could be attracted to the region.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur will formally flag off the train from Paprola railway station on February 6.

In fact, the narrow gauge line, which plays a significant role in the economy of this region, remains neglected. The Railways has made no efforts in the past 90 years for modernisation of this rail track. The Century-old and outdated rail engines and coaches still have been running on this track.

The British had laid down the narrow gauge railway line in 1932, linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and part of Mandi district. At present, seven trains are plying on this route daily covering 33 stations passing through places like Nurpur, Jwali, Jwalamukhi Road, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Chamunda, Palampur, Baijnath and Jogindernagar, which are also major tourist attraction centres of the state.