In a press release issued on Sunday, Northern Railway said it would resume two pairs of trains between Pathankot and Paprola. The official restoration ceremony will be held on Tuesday at 8.45 am.
The train service, considered a lifeline for rural areas of Kangra district, was suspended following the collapse of the interstate Chakki railway bridge near Kandwal on August 22, 2022. The disruption led to the suspension of all seven pairs of trains operating on the route, leaving thousands of commuters in the lurch.
According to the press release, two of the seven previously operated train pairs will initially be restored from Pathankot railway station. Train No. 52465 will depart from Pathankot at 5 am and reach Paprola at noon, while Train No. 52467 will leave at 7 am and arrive at Paprola at 1.40 pm.
In the return direction, Train No. 52470 will depart from Paprola at 2.15 pm and reach Pathankot at 9.45 pm. Train No. 52474 will leave Paprola at 3.40 pm and arrive at Pathankot at 10.50 pm.
In addition, Northern Railway is introducing three pairs of train services on the Paprola–Jogindernagar, Nurpur Road–Paprola and Jawalamukhi Road–Paprola sections. These services will cater to passengers travelling within Kangra and Mandi districts.
Meanwhile, the Kangra Valley Railway Sangharsh Samiti, which has been campaigning for the resumption of services over the past five months, criticised the railway authorities for only partially restoring operations from Pathankot.
The Samiti has organised protest demonstrations at Ranital, Koparlahar and Dharamsala and submitted memorandums to the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister through the Kangra district administration. Earlier this month, it also filed a petition before the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court seeking intervention for the restoration of train services on the Pathankot–Jogindernagar narrow-gauge line.
Rajesh Nandpuri, convener of the Samiti, alleged that despite repeated trial runs on the narrow-gauge track and the newly constructed Chakki railway bridge, as well as technical inspections conducted by railway authorities, the restoration of services had been deliberately delayed. He further claimed that the resumed services could again face disruptions during the monsoon season due to landslides along sections of the track in Kangra district.
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