50-year journey of Rajpura-Mohali rail link

It was on March 12, 1976 that the then Congress MP Narain Chand Prashar first raised the need for a rail link between Rajpura and Chandigarh during the discussion on Railway Budget. During the same discussion, another Congress MP Raghunandan Lal Bhatia supported the demand.

Between 1994 and 1996, the rail link issue was taken up in the Railway Budget as well as in the fifth Report of the Railway Convention Committee in which ministers Ram Naik and MPs Umrao Singh, Sant Kumar Singla, Hari Chand Singh, Pawan Kumar Bansal mentioned the project.

On March 14, 1995, CK Jaffer Sharif, the Railway Minister mentioned in the Budget speech that the survey for the Rajpura-Mohali rail link had been completed and a proposal sent to the Planning Commission for approval.

Records seen by The Tribune show that on July 16, 1996, Ram Vilas Paswan, then Railway Minister, said in his Budget speech that land acquisition for the link was in progress and work would be taken up on priority once land became available.

Thereafter, during discussions on supplementary demands of grants for the Railways on August 11, 1997, Chandigarh MP Satyapal Jain spoke about the issue in the House. On March 10, 2011, in an answer to MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, the ministry said the project had been included in the Railway Budget of 2011-12.

The issue kept getting delayed. On May 7, 2018, MP Sadashiv Lokhande asked a question on rail projects pending for approval. In response, the ministry said the Rajpura-Mohali project was included in the Budget of 2016-17.

Again in an answer to Lok Sabha member MB Rajesh’s question about pending projects, the Rajpura-Mohali rail link was included in the Budget outlay for 2018-19.

On February 9, 2022, Punjab MP Ravneet Bittu raised a question on railway projects in Punjab. In reply, though no direct reference to the Rajpura-Mohali project was made, it was stated that 15 projects, partly in Punjab, were at planning stage.

On July 27, 2022, MP Preneet Kaur asked a direct question on the Rajpura-Chandigarh rail project.

The minister replied, “Rajpura-Mohali project of 23.89 km was included in the Budget of 2016–17, subject to obtaining requisite approvals. Accordingly, a detailed project report was prepared. It said traffic projections were poor and the project was not remunerative. Therefore, the Punjab Government was requested through letters on November 24, 2016, December 12, 2017, and January 1, 2018, to form a joint venture company between the Ministry of Railways and the state to undertake the railway projects and share 50 per cent cost of the project. The Punjab Government has not given its consent.”

The project had been pending since, with MoS Railways Ravneet Bittu helping revive it over the past year.