Chintpurni shrine set to be linked by train

Our Correspondent
UNA, January 9

The 16-km-long Amb-Andaura to Daulatpur Chowk broad gauge rail section on the 84-km-long ongoing Nangal to Talwara rail line is scheduled to be opened to traffic on January 15. A railway circular said Union Minster of Railways, Manoj Sinha will preside over the function and flag off the Himachal Express on the track.

According to the circular, the Himachal Express train, which starts from Delhi every day at 10.50 pm and reaches Amb-Andaura at 8.31 am the next day, will now travel 16 km further up to Daulatpur Chowk and reach there at 8.55 am. On its return journey, the train will start from Daulatpur Chowk every day at 8 pm and reach Delhi at its scheduled time at 5.30 am the next day.

With the commissioning of the rail section, the famous Chintpurni shrine will be directly connected with broad gauge rail network since the Chintpurni Marg station is located on this section.

The foundation stone of the 84-km-long Nangal-Una-Talwara rail line was laid at Amb in 1974 by the then Railways Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra. Now 44 years later, only 45 km track is now functional between Nangal and Amb-Andaura. With the commissioning of the track till Daulatpur Chowk on January 15, as much as 23 km of track will still remain to be laid till Talwara for its onward linkage with the Jalandhar to Jammu broad gauge section.