CHANDIGARH: Chandigarh railway station will undergo its longest-ever disruption from Thursday till October 15 as major reconstruction work will be undertaken at the station.
The key lines and platforms will be shut in rotation. The disruption will lead to cancellations, partial cancellations and short-termination of trains, as well as platform changes.
Passengers travelling to and from the city will have to plan their journeys carefully for over a month.
Under the upgradation process, a balance through roof will be erected, and the girders of the foot overbridge will be removed by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).
The railway has divided the work into three 12-day phases: September 10 to 21, September 22 to October 3, and October 4 to 15.
The block will affect train operations in phases, with 12 trains cancelled and several others shifted to Ambala Cantonment or Mohali for their departure or termination.
Some trains will also be partially cancelled and short-terminated between Chandigarh and Ambala. Major trains cancelled are Amritsar-Chandigarh-Amritsar (14541-42), Chandigarh-Ferozepur-Chandigarh (14629-30), Kalka-Ambala-Kalka, Kalka-Delhi-Kalka and DLPC-Kalka-DLPC.
Under the revised arrangements, six trains will be operated from Ambala, while eight trains will be operated from Mohali.
Passengers who normally board these services from Chandigarh may have to travel to Ambala or Mohali railway station to catch their trains.
Passengers whose journeys originate or terminate at Chandigarh have been advised to check their train’s originating station, termination point and scheduled departure time before leaving home.
Six more train pairs, including the Rishikesh–Chandigarh, Ajmer-Chandigarh and Udaipur–Chandigarh services, will be short-terminated or short-originated at Ambala Cantt on specified days, with their Chandigarh leg cancelled each time.
Two Ludhiana–Amritsar trains will be diverted via Sirhind on October 3 and 10, bypassing Chandigarh and Mohali stations entirely. To offset the pressure on Chandigarh, eight long-distance trains, including the Sabarmati–Amritsar and Amritsar–Dehradun services, will get a temporary extra stop at Mohali during the block period.
According to an order issued by the senior divisional operations manager, Ambala Cantt, a total of 442 train trips will be cancelled during the block period, the highest toll from a single block at the station in recent years.
According to railway officials, the construction agency has received approval from the Ambala division for the block for the second time within a month.
The block will take different sets of platforms and lines out of service during each phase. From September 10 to 21, Line 6 (Platform 5), Line 7 (non-platform) and Line 8 (Platform 6) will be affected. From September 22 to October 3, Line 4 (Platform 3) and Line 5 (Platform 4) will be affected. From October 4 to 15, Line 1 (Platform 2), Line 2 (non-platform) and Line 3 (Platform 2) will be affected.
Another 76 trains will berth on platforms different from their scheduled ones across the three phases: 20 in the first, 17 in the second and 39 in the third. The changes will affect frequently used services such as the Delhi-bound Shatabdi, the Ajmer–Chandigarh Vande Bharat pair and the Howrah–Kalka Mail.
