Major trains still don’t halt at Karnal

Parveen Arora

Residents of Karnal city have long been demanding halts of some important trains at the local railway station, which is one of the oldest stations in the country built by the British in 1892. Karnal being the Chief Minister’s city has not helped them get their wish fulfilled in the last five years.

The residents have raised the issue of the stoppages of various trains with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, former Karnal Member of Parliament (MP) Ashwini Kumar Chopra, and member of the Passengers’ Amenities Committee Vir Kumar Yadav. They even used the social media platform to bring the issue to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and present Railway Minister Piyush Goel. 

The residents are demanding halts of trains such as Swaraj Sarvodaya Jammu Tawi Express, Delhi-Hoshiarpur Express, Visakhapatnam-Amritsar-Hirakund Express, Shri Shakti-Katra Express, Sai Nagar Shirdi-Kalka SF Express, New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express, and Uttar Sampark Kranti at the station. Besides, they want four or five more platforms to accommodate passenger rush. 

The residents are unhappy that a railway junction has not been made at the local station despite announcements made in four Railway Budgets (on June 29, 1998; February 24, 2010; February 25, 2011; and February 25, 2016). Moreover, successive governments had announced that railway lines would be laid to connect Karnal with Kaithal and Yamunanagar, but nothing has been done.

Munish Arya, a local resident, says that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and former Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had on June 26, 2016, announced a halt of Sai Nagar Shirdi-Kalka SF Express at the Karnal station but even three years after the announcement, nothing positive has happened. 

The Karnal railway station should be developed as a junction as announced several times. Once it becomes a junction, several trains will halt here, he adds.

Railway lines between Karnal and Kaithal, and Karnal and Yamunanagar should be laid at the earliest, says Amit Kumar, another resident.

In 2008, the Karnal station got the “A” grade, but it still lacks major facilities. “We have been requesting for starting new trains named after Raja Karan, and astronaut Kalpana Chawla, but nobody has paid heed to us,” he adds. 

The residents thank the state government for arranging the halts of three trains, but are not happy with their timings. “On the efforts of the Chief Minister, Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express started halting at the Karnal station from August 13, 2015, but its timing is not comfortable. It runs six days a week except on Sundays and local traders can’t avail of its services to travel to Delhi and Chandigarh for bringing goods. It leaves the local station for Delhi at 1.30 pm and for Chandigarh at 8.50 pm. Both timings are not suitable for daily passengers. The government should convince the Railways for a stoppage of this train at the local station in the morning while running towards Delhi and in the evening while moving towards Chandigarh,” says Nishant Kumar Bhatia, another resident. 

Two new trains, namely Haridwar-Bikaner Express and Gita Jayanti Express, which halt here, were started during the tenure of the present government, he adds.

Earlier, on the efforts of former MP Arvind Sharma, Shan-e-Punjab started halting at the station from October 1, 2008, Pooja Express from March 2, 2009, and later the Chandigarh-Bandra Express started picking passengers.

During the tenure of former Union Minister of State for Home ID Swami, Malwa Express and Sachkhand Express started halting at the station from April 15, 2002. Besides, on Swami’s initiative Broni Express (downside) and Jan Shatabdi Express also started halting at the station. 

The residents also want a direct train from Kurukshetra to Ayodhya via Karnal. Besides, they are demanding that the trains running between Ambala and Kurukshetra and Delhi and Panipat be extended till Karnal. They are unhappy at the charging of parking fee where it is free. 

On behalf of the residents, Nirupama Sadher, a member of the Zonal Railway User Consultative Committee, handed over a memorandum to Vir Kumar Yadav, a member of the Passengers’ Amenities Committee, when the latter visited the city on July 30. She apprised him about the demands of the residents regarding halts of trains.

“I took up people’s demand for halts of some major trains with Vir Kumar Yadav. He assured me of raising the issue at the Central level,” says Nirupama.

Yadav had said, “I have received a memorandum requesting for stoppages of various trains and I will take up the issue at the Central Government level”.