RailEnquiry

LUDHIANA: With the exit of former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and their hopes shattering, Ludhianvis are now pinning hopes upon the newly appointed railway minister MallikarjunKharge to improve the railway connectivity to this one of the main industrial cities of north India. The beginning of Jan Shatabdi tops the list of the residents' demands as they suffer due to no bullet train from the city to Delhi after 8am. Even information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari, who is an MP from the city, had many a times acknowledged that the demand of the residents for Jan Shatabdi is pending with him. An industrialist from Rishi Nagar Tushar Chawla says, "The city badly needs a good train, that is, Jan Shatabdi. The city has no train after 8am till evening. It is important for the industrial development of the city. We were expecting Pawan Kumar Bansal to begin it but then he had to resign." "Now that a new railway minister has been sworn in, we hope he fulfills this demand of the residents of one of the biggest industrial cities of north India," he adds. Another industrialist from Fateh Singh Nagar Rajesh Kalra says, "Jan Shatabdi should be started soon as it will give a boost to the industries in the city. At the same time, the railway station badly needs a revamp. There is no AC waiting room at the station and even the non-AC waiting room has inadequate sitting facilities. Apart from that, the building of the railway station is also old and needs repairing. We request the new railway minister to consider our demands seriously and fulfill these at an earliest as our business is connected with the railway network."

In the meanwhile, the information and broadcasting minister said, "The beginning of Jan Shatabdi and improving facilities at the railway station are important for the city and are on my priority list. Once the new railway minister settles down, I will discuss these with him."

Ashwin Nagpal, businessman of Civil Lines, says: "The city needs a Jan Shatabdi. One more option is to add the number of higher executive class bogeys if it is possible, especially in the express trains. So far as the upgradation of the railway station is concerned, the upkeep of the station is important before upgrading the infrastructure. Dr Gurpreet Singh, resident of Pakhowal road, says: "Apart from starting good trains from the city, the modernization of the railway station is important as it is one of the main railway stations of north India. Safai karamcharis should be deployed at the station in adequate numbers to maintain hygiene. Upkar Singh, joint secretary, Chamber of Industrial & Commercial Understandings, says "Besides our demand of a Jan Shatabdi, we also want facilities like visitors lounge, additional platforms, proper food joints, elevators especially for elderly persons. We also want the authorities to repair the overbridges which are in bad shape."