Restore train service on Kangra line: Chief Parliamentary Secretary

Palampur, February 10

Kishori Lal, MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary, today demanded that train service on the Kangra valley heritage line be restored immediately.

Addressing newsmen here, Kishori Lal alleged that the ruling BJP at the Centre does not care about the needs of the people of Kangra, the biggest district of Himachal Pradesh, where the Kangra valley rail line was the lifeline of the people. He said the train services on the Kangra valley line were suspended after the collapse of pillars of the Chakki bridge near Pathankot during July 2022 flash floods. Subsequently, the bridge on Chakki river between Dalhousie road and Nurpur was also washed away.

He said the Centre had decided to convert Baijnath and Paprola railway stations into world class facilities and introduce the latest Vistadome coaches on this track. When there are no train service on the route what was the justification of making railway stations world class, he asked. It, he said, was a cruel joke with the people of Kangra.

“I would like to remind the Central government, BJP national president JP Nadda and members of Parliament from Himachal that the Chakki railway bridge is lying closed for seven months and there are no signs of reconstruction of this important bridge which links Pathankot with Kangra. This has proved that the ruling party at the Centre was not too concerned about the needs of people here,” he said.

“This railway service is a lifeline for hundreds of villages in Kangra district. Thousands of commuters used to travel in the trains on this track daily,” he said.

There are about 33 railway stations on this route and the train is the only mode of transportation in some of the remote villages of the district, he said.