CHANDIGARH: With less than a year left for the Punjab assembly elections, the Union government has revived the long-pending Qadian–Beas rail line project, nearly a century after it was first approved, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,400 crore.
Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu said the proposed railway line would connect Qadian in Gurdaspur district with Beas in Amritsar district through a 39.68-km broad-gauge corridor. The project will be executed by Northern Railway.
The proposed alignment will pass through the towns and villages of Qadian, Dhapai, Ghuman, Butala, Sathiala and Beas, bringing several areas of the Majha region onto the railway network and improving connectivity for local residents.
The project was first approved in 1928-29 by the then North-Western Railway, and construction had progressed substantially by the early 1930s. However, changing circumstances and shifting planning priorities led to its discontinuation.
"The project envisages the development of state-of-the-art railway infrastructure, including two crossing stations at Ghuman and Butala, Eleven major bridges and 121 minor bridges, Fifty-four Road Under Bridges (RUBs), Modern signaling and telecommunication systems and Deployment of Kavach, the country's indigenous train collision avoidance system," Bittu said.
Recalling the project's history, Bittu said the Qadian–Beas rail link traces its origins to the British era. He said the project was later revived under the Socially Desirable Rail Connectivity Programme and included in the supplementary Railway Budget for 2010-11.
After years of delays and procedural hurdles, the project has now been revived with a revised estimate of approximately Rs 1,400 crore.
Beyond improving regional connectivity, the line holds strategic significance as an alternative rail corridor to the Amritsar–Pathankot section during emergencies and contingencies, strengthening the resilience of railway operations in northern India.
Bittu said the railway line was expected to generate economic opportunities by improving market access for farmers and agricultural produce, facilitating faster transportation, boosting trade and small-scale industries, creating jobs during construction and operation, and encouraging investment across the Majha region.
Sources said that last year the Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), Northern Railway, wrote to state that the Railway Board had sought the immediate "defreezing" of the project and the resubmission of the detailed estimate for early sanction so that construction could begin.
The rail line was originally sanctioned in 1929 by the British government and was to be built by the North Western Railway. However, the project was halted in 1932 after nearly one-third of the work had been completed.
It resurfaced in the 2010 Railway Budget under the "socially desirable projects" category, which focuses on improving transport access irrespective of commercial viability. However, concerns raised by the Planning Commission once again stalled progress.