Pathankot to Jogindernagar direct train services likely to resume next month

Direct train service between Pathankot and Jogindernagar on the narrow-gauge railway line is likely to resume next month. Official sources said today that the railway authorities had completed the construction of a new bridge on the Chakki river. The old bridge was washed away in flash floods in August 2022, leading to the suspension of train services on the Pathankot-Jogindernagar route.

After the railway bridge on the Chakki river collapsed, the services were partially suspended and three trains operated between Nurpur and Baijnath. The Railways has already completed the trial on the new bridge, a first step towards the resumption of train service on this track.

In July this year, the Railways had declared the Nurpur-Baijnath section unsafe for train operations because of landslide risks after a portion of the track was damaged near Ranital as debris from the under-construction Matour-Shimla four-lane road fell on it. Thereafter, the partial train services were also suspended.

Residents of Kangra have been urging the government to resume train service promptly. They said that the Pathankot-Jogindernagar narrow-gauge railway line had been the lifeline for many rural areas in the region. Various state bodies and NGOs had expressed concerns over the deteriorating condition of the British-era railway line and other infrastructure like railway stations. They alleged that railway stations at many places such as Baijnath had been closed due to poor upkeep.

Though the Railways had renovated and upgraded some stations, including in Palampur and Paprola, under the Amrit Bharat scheme, several others remain in disrepair. Built between 1926 and 1928, the 100-km railway line was an engineering marvel of its time and is the only mode of connectivity for some remote areas of Kangra though it has been out of service for the past two years.

The British had laid this rail track in 1926, linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and parts of Mandi district. In the past 90 years, the Indian Railways had done precious little on this track. A number of plans were drawn up to convert this narrow-gauge line into a broad-gauge line but all remained on paper. The condition of the rail track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar has worsened in the past 10 years. Now, it is expected that this track will be converted into broad gauge soon.

The Kangra valley rail line is considered lifeline for 40 lakh residents of lower hills of Himachal Pradesh. Earlier, seven trains were running on this route covering 33 stations every day, passing through important places such as Nurpur, Jawali, Jwalamukhi road, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Chamunda, Palampur, Baijnath and Jogindernagar, which are also major tourist centres. However, for the past one-and-half-years, direct train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar were suspended following the collapse of the Chakki bridge near Pathankot.