Ferozepur Express to be Mohali's first originating train after decades

Mohali: After decades, northern railway has given the neglected local station its first originating train—the Ferozepur Express. So far, trains just pass through Mohali, without starting or finishing here.

Divisional railway manager Dinesh Chand Sharma said: “The proposal to re-schedule the Ferozepur Express (14613-14) that used to originate and culminate in Chandigarh has been accepted in principle by the ministry.

This will be Mohali’s first own train, and with new timings. The train will now originate and culminate in Mohali, where we will install escalator and lift for Rs 1.56 crore under a facelift plan.”

The Ferozepur Express departs Chandigarh at 4.10pm to reach its destination at 9.30pm. After re-scheduling, it will leave Mohali at 6.30pm and arrive back at 9 or 9.30 the next morning to then be parked in Chandigarh by 12.30pm. The DRM said that the new schedule was for the ease of patients from Ferozepur and Ludhiana. They will be able to reach Chandigarh or Mohali by 9.30am and will have ample time to finish the day’s work before heading back home by 6.30pm.

At present, six trains cross Mohali, while connecting Punjab, Una, Chandigarh, Jammu, and Delhi. Lift and escalators were a long pending demand of the visitors to the Mohali railway station. The budget for the project seems reasonable. The upgrade plan was mooted by northern railway general manager T P Singh after he inspected the railway station last year.

Even though footfall has increased over the decade at the Mohali railway station, its number of halting trains and passenger amenities haven’t improved. The railway station doesn’t have proper drinking water facility, public toilets, and waiting rooms, the last of which are yet to be made operational.

When planned in 2006, the local railway station received only the Ambala-Morinda passenger express. In 2008 then, the New Delhi-Chandigarh Jan Shatabdi was extended to Una via Mohali. Two trains to Amritsar and one each to Una, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, and Katra/Pathankot now halt at Mohali every day. Railway record suggests that the lone Chandigarh-Amritsar intercity express carries 300 to 400 passengers a day from Mohali.

The station came on the global rail-network map after the electrified tracks between Chandigarh and Ludhiana were inaugurated in 2014. It connected the Mohali station to the other parts of the state directly.

The 112-kilometre-long section was completed in three phases. The first linked Chandigarh and New Morinda on the Sirhind-Nangal line in September 2006. The second phase for a third line between Sahnewal and Ludhiana on the Ambala-Attari route was completed in November 2012. The third phase linked New Morinda with Ludhiana in April 2013, after which Chandigarh and Mohali were connected property to Punjab.

As Mohali got connected with Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur and even Pathankot/ Katra and the number of halting trains went from two to five, the footfall also jumped from below 100 to more than 1,000. Mohali legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu was flooded with requests from constituents for getting the New Delhi Shatabdi Express to Mohali, so that they no longer had to leave the house two hours before the train’s scheduled departure from Chandigarh. If train started from Mohali, it will be easier for people to get on board.” Sidhu had also requested for a rail link between Saneta village and Rajpura junction.