Obstruction on Rajpura-Bathinda rail line removed

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 6

The Ambala division of Northern Railways has removed an obstruction in electrification and doubling of Rajpura-Bathinda rail line.

In its endeavour to meet growing demand of freight and passenger services in Malwa, the Railways Ministry had recently sanctioned a project related to doubling of track along with electrification of Rajpura-Bathinda section at a cost of Rs 1,769.24 crore.

Pankaj Gupta, ADRM (Operations), said Rajpura-Patiala section was already electrified, while the work to electrify Patiala-Bathinda section was in progress. “In Patiala, foot overbridge was a main hurdle which was solved by taking 12-hour block from 6.40 am to 6.40 pm. During this block, no train was cancelled. Some trains were regulated for crossing at adjoining stations. All trains were stationed at platform No. 3 and two special stairs were arranged to facilitate passengers,” he said. 

The ADRM revealed that the height of foot overbridge was raised by 1.67-meter with the help of several hydraulic jacks and labourers. “There are 23 stations, including four halt stations, on this section. All the stations will have high-level platforms and foot overbridges. Land acquisition was also being carried out at seven stations. This is basically for shifting of freight sidings due to land constraint encountered for doubling,” Gupta said. 

Rajpura-Bathinda section has been pivotal because of its major freight sidings and presence of thermal power plant at Lehra Mohabbat and military cantonment at Bathinda, among others.