December 14, 2008 : December 14, 2008 would be remembered as a Golden Day in the history of Himachal Pradesh when the First Daily "Jan Shatabdi Express" was flagged off from Una today by Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister at 5 a.m by waving the green flag to inaugurate the super fast railway service connecting Himachal Pradesh with the National Capital, New Delhi. He was joined by Shri Anurag Thakur, M.P Lok Sabha. Large number of people of the area witnessed the flagging off ceremony performed by offering "Pooja" before the railway engine.
Shri Virender Kunwar, Shri Satpal Singh Satti, Shri Mukesh Agnihotri, MLAs, Shri O.P. Rattan, Shri Ram Rattan Sharma, former MLAs, senior bureaucrats and officers of railways, prominent people of the area, representatives of all political parties attended the flagging off ceremony.
Addressing media persons later, Chief Minister thanked the Prime Minister, Railway Minister, Chairman Railway Board, its Members for connecting Himachal Pradesh with Jan Shatabdi Express Service, which would be facilitating the people of the State with efficient railway services. He said that the fare to travel upto New Delhi in Jan Shatabdi Express would be much less compared to ordinary bus fare. He said that infrastructure upgradation of the railway station at Una would also be carried out on priority besides providing round the clock railway booking facilities at Una.
Chief Minister said that the train would be leaving Una at 5 a.m and reach New Delhi at 12 noon, leave New Delhi at 3 p.m. and reach Una at 10 p.m. He said that the required infrastructure would be created to equip the station with modern facilities to cater to the needs of passengers. He said that efforts would also be made to permit private bus operators to transport passengers during the departure and arrival times of the train. He said that it was a historical day for the State, when such a service had been started. He said that efforts were being made to extend all the railway routes ending at Nangal Dam to Una, so that more people could travel by direct trains to different parts of the country from Una itself.
Prof. Dhumal said that the proposed destination of Talwara would also be connected soon with the railway line and the next upcoming railway station after Churru would be Amb. He said that the work on Bhanupalli-Barmana railway line was likely to start soon and efforts would be made to extend the same to Hamirpur-Jwalamukhi and further connect the same with Pathankot-Jogindernager railway line so that the line could pass through the middle of the State. He added that the survey work on Pathankot-Jogindernagar-Mandi-Kullu-Manali-Keylong-Leh railway line was in progress and was likely to take off soon, which was important strategically and from tourism point of view. He said that the Government of India was seriously considering the proposal so that it could take practical shape. He further said that the Chandigarh-Baddi railway line construction work was also being started soon to facilitate the industrialists with convenient transportation facility of their products and raw material etc.