The suspended train services on the narrow gauge Pathankot-Jogindernagar track of the historic Kangra Valley Railways is likely to be restored in the first week of June after the model code of conduct imposed for the ongoing elections to civic bodies and panchayati raj institutions is lifted. Kangra MP Rajiv Bhardwaj, while speaking with mediapersons at Nurpur on Friday evening, said that he had persistently raised the issue both in Parliament and with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw following the suspension of the train services in August 2022 after the old interstate bridge on the Chakki rivulet at Kandwal near Nurpur washed away in flash floods.
The MP said that though a new bridge on the Chakki had already been constructed, some technical issues delayed the restoration of the train services. He added that he had urged the Railway Minister recently to resume train operations.
Bhardwaj said that the minister subsequently directed the Northern Railway authorities in Jammu to expedite the restoration of the train services. He claimed that railway officers had assured him that initially five trains would be restarted immediately after the model code of conduct was lifted in early June.
The suspension of this vital rail services has affected the lives of thousands of residents, traders, students and tourists in Kangra, Hamirpur and Mandi. These train services had long served as an affordable and dependable mode of transport, particularly in rural parts of Kangra district where bus connectivity remains limited. Though a new bridge on the Chakki rivulet had been constructed, technical teams of the Northern Railway had done inspections several times and several successful trials on the track had been conducted over the past five months, the prolonged delay in restarting train operations had triggered widespread resentment among commuters and local residents.
Local residents and commuters have constituted the Kangra Valley Railway Sangharsh Samiti, which has been spearheading an agitation for the past several months for the restoration of the train services. It has held demonstrations at Ranital, Koparlahar and Dharamsala and submitted memorandums to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw through the district administration in the past three months. Recently, the samiti had filed a petition in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, seeking directions to the railway authorities for the immediate restoration of the train services.
