Mohali: The Centre has revived the proposed Qadian-Beas railway line project in Punjab's Majha region. The 39.7-km broad-gauge corridor, estimated to cost about Rs 1,400 crore, will connect Qadian in Gurdaspur district with Beas in Amritsar district and will be executed by Northern Railway.
Announcing the decision at Rail Bhawan on Thursday, Union minister of state for railways Ravneet Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for supporting the project.
The proposed alignment will pass through Qadian, Dhapai, Ghuman, Butala, Sathiala and Beas, bringing several areas of the Majha belt onto the railway network. The project includes two crossing stations at Ghuman and Butala, 11 major bridges, 121 minor bridges, 54 road underbridges, signalling and telecommunication systems, and the deployment of Kavach, the indigenous train collision avoidance system.
According to the minister, the rail link was first approved in 1928-29 by the then North-Western Railway and construction had progressed substantially by the early 1930s before the project was discontinued. It was later revived under the Socially Desirable Rail Connectivity Programme and included in the supplementary Railway Budget of 2010-11 but remained stalled.
The minister said the line would serve as an alternative rail corridor to the Amritsar-Pathankot section during emergencies and improve rail connectivity in northern India. He said the project is expected to improve market access for farmers, facilitate movement of agricultural produce, boost trade and small industries, generate employment and encourage investment in the Majha region.
The line will also improve access to religious destinations, including Qadian, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh in Beas, Dera Baba Nanak and Gurdwara Bhagat Namdev Ji at Ghuman, among others, and is expected to boost religious tourism.
