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Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 26
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated four projects and laid the foundation stone of four other projects worth Rs 953.12 crore at the Chandigarh railway station today. Prabhu dedicated the 81-km Sonepat-Jind new rail line by flagging off the inaugural passenger train service between Sonepat and Jind through video-conferencing.
Among the projects inaugurated by the Railway Minister were the maiden passenger service (74020/74019) between Jind and Sonepat (it will run six days a week, except Sundays) and the extension of the pair of Rewari-Rohtak trains up to Jind from Monday. The minister also inaugurated a mechanised laundry at the city railway station.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Chandigarh Mayor Arun Sood, Punjab Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Information and Technology and Food Processing Adaish Partap Singh Kairon and Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra were among those present on the occasion at the city railway station.
Ramesh Chander Kaushik, MP, was the chief guest at a parallel ceremony held at the Sonepat railway station.
AK Puthia, General Manager, Northern Railway, Dinesh Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, and Anuj Prakash, Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur, were present at the city railway station.
New Jind-Sonepat rail line
The commissioning of the 81-km Jind-Sonepat railway link will provide a direct rail connectivity between these two cities. The cost of the project is Rs 740.80 crore. The rail line includes 159 bridges — 16 major and 143 minor. The rail line also includes a road overbridge and a road underbridge, besides 37 level-crossings. To cater to the increase in the fleet of passenger trains, two new platforms have been constructed at Sonepat, besides a new foot overbridge for the convenience of passengers.
Jind-Sonepat train
The regular service of the new passenger train between Jind and Sonepat will commence on Monday. The train will run six days a week except Sundays. The Rewari-Rohtak train will be extended up to Jind from Monday.
Coach maintenance unit
The foundation stone was laid to develop a coach maintenance unit at Chheharta, 7 km from Amritsar. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 61.2 crore.
‘Limited height’ subways
After feasibility and assessment studies, the Northern Railway plans to construct “limited height” subways at 37 locations in Punjab at an estimated cost of Rs 68 crore.
17 lifts, 10 escalators to come up at various locations
A total of 17 lifts and 10 escalators will be set up in various locations of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh at a cost of Rs 84.7 crore for which the foundation stones were laid today.