Iconic Dera Baba Nanak railway station losing legacy

The century-old Dera Baba Nanak station, the last railway stop before Pakistan begins, is gradually losing its British-era character with the last standing residential quarters, part of the main structure, being razed to the ground.

Officials have begun the process of pulling down the last of the 14 residential quarters that once housed the station master. Once upon a time, trains to Lahore, Sialkot, Kartarpur Sahib and Narowal used to whistle through at midnight carrying the dreams of silent passengers. The station lay at the strategic crossroads of the British empire, which hauled men and material across the region, servicing wars as well as peace.

Today, huge locks hang on bolts outside the waiting room, stock room and the generator room. The town-folk, who with their own eyes saw history being rewritten with the building of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor back in 2018 — which leads to the sacred shrine of Guru Nanak on the other side of the International Border in Pakistan — have now given up hope that they can save their beloved railway station. Baldev Singh Randhawa, president of the Virasti Manch, Batala, a body which looks after heritage buildings, such as Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s summer palace in Dinanagar, told The Tribune, “It is a sad day for us. We tried our best but our best has fallen short.”

Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, whose native village Dharowali is near the station, said, “This magnificent edifice, which has a thousand tales attached to it, will now ultimately crumble and with it a legacy will come to an end.”

The last train to Pakistan left this station at the end of September, 1947. Subsequently, the narrow-gauge track leading to Pakistan was permanently shut down and the station was declared a terminus.

Some people in Dera Baba Nanak believed the Archaeological Survey of India would take note once the Kartarpur Corridor was built. “Once the corridor was established, we were sure the station would be categorised as a heritage building. If the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in Mumbai can be given the heritage tag, why not Dera Baba Nanak,” asked a Railways official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Talk of the station being accorded heritage status has been thick in the air for the last few years,” said Gurpreet Singh who works at a nearby level crossing as a trackman. He is a third-generation railway employee. Both his grandfather and father worked at this station.

Gurpreet’s father added, “With the quarters, which were the pride of the station, being razed, our pleas for a heritage tag have died a natural death.”

Old timers recall the days when nearly 40 employees used to work there. Later, a skeletal staff was deployed. This too was reduced and now there is just one regular employee, a ticket booking clerk.

The quantum of trade that took place in the pre-Independence period was the envy of the country. The station had three station masters, six gang members, four pointsmen and a postman.

“I was among those who wanted this site to be preserved the way it was built nearly a hundred years ago. But all of it is crumbling down slowly,” said lecturer Harbhajan Singh who regularly travelled from this station to Amritsar during his school days.