Chandigarh, March 27 –The Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabadi would now also halt at Sonipat and Karnal stations and there would not be a single unmanned railway crossing in Haryana in the next two years. This assurance was given by the Union Railway Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, when the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, met him in New Delhi, today. Mr Prabhu directed railways officers to make the recently launched Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabadi halt at Sonipat and Karnal.
At present the train has only one halt at Ambala. The Railways is working on the new concept of trains running on overhead bridges on the pattern of Metro. This possibility would also be explored in Haryana to minimize the requirement of land for railways, Mr Prabhu said. The Chief Minister demanded that the process of setting up of the rail coach factory at Sonipat and electrification of Jind-Panipat, Narwana-Kaithal-Kurukshetra and Rohtak-Gohana-Panipat railway line be speeded up.
While describing the railway network as an important part of development of any state, Mr Manohar Lal said that since a large strtetch of Haryana falls in the National Capital Region area, extension of the rail network would pave the way for development of the state. He also discussed the proposed rail projects with the Union Minister. These included Yamunanagar-Chandigarh, Karnal-Yamunanagar, Delhi-Sohna-Firozpur Zhirka-Alwar, Hisar-Sirsa via Agroha, Fatehabad-Mansa-Bathinda.
The state government is ready to share half the cost of a number of these projects, he added. The Chief Minister sought an alternative to the shifting of railway line crossing from Rohtak town and demanded construction of railway overbridges, including in Gohana and Karnal. At the meeting, the Union Minister gave his consent for the construction of underpass in Charkhi Dadri and Tohana. On the issue of funds raised by Railway officers, the Union Minister said that he would bear half the cost of the Charkhi Dadri underpass from his MPLAD Fund. Mr Manohar Lal demanded a railway halt in Koka-Kulana between Jhajjar and Macchrauli, and a railway phatak in Babra. In addition, he requested that additional facilities be provided in Gurgaon and Panchkula railway stations.