The Expanded Board for Railways, following an intervention from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has approved a 40 km railway line that was first envisaged in 1921 by Chaudhary Sir Zafarullah Khan, who served as the railway minister on the Viceroy’s Executive Council in 1935 and later went on to becoming Pakistan’s first foreign minister.
Gurdaspur MP Pratap Singh Bajwa, who had doggedly pursued the project located in his home constituency, said, “The EBR finally gave in-principle approval and authorised the expenditure of `240 crores for the construction of this long-forgotten rail link as a broad-gauge line.”
Chaudhary Zafarullah’s long-forgotten dream significantly links the international headquarters of Muslim Ahmadiyya Jamaat (sect) in Qadian with the predominantly Hindu and Sikh Dera Radhasoami at Beas.
But in addition to its secular symbolism, the Qadian-Beas Line greatly eases life for passengers who must now take the hugely circuitous route via Amritsar and Batala. The line will also be the first link between two of Punjab’s most important routes, the Amritsar-Pathankot Line and the Jalandhar-Amritsar Line.
The line is also expected to improve military movement to and from the India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur.
Mr Bajwa said the project was actively supported by PM Singh, West Bengal chief minister and former railway minister Mamata Banerjee and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Ahluwalia.