Allow passenger movement between Nurpur-Panthankot stations: Dhumal

Shimla, Sep 13 (UNI) Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today urged Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to allow passenger movement between Nurpur and Pathankot railway stations, saying the move will facilitate movement of local people and defence personnel between the two stations.

Ferrying of passengers by the railways between the two stations has been stopped since September nine evening after a railway engineer declared the Chakki Bridge on the railway section unfit for movement of trains, he said in a release here.

Mr Dhumal said the movement of trains was later allowed with a restriction that they would not breach the speed limit of 15 km while crossing the bridge.

Now that the engineer has declared the bridge fit for movement of trains and with the monsoon season almost over, the railway authorities should allow passenger movement between Nurpur and Pathankot, since this was the only link between the two stations after the only road bridge was washed away during this summer season, he said.

Mr Dhumal, elected to Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur constituency of the state recently, urged the railway minister to allow the passengers to board the Pathankot-bound train at Nurpur and the Nurpur-bound train at Panthankot.

As of now, the passengers bound to Pathankot were asked to get down at Nurpur, while, on the other hand, the passengers were taken on board at Nurpur only after the train begins it journey from Pathankot, he said.

He said since the washing away of the only road bridge during this monsoon, the rail was the only mode of transportation especially for defence personnel and local people.

Besides, inspection of all bridges on the Nurpur-Pathankot section should be carried out at the earliest and steps initiated to ensure movement of passengers was not hampered in the state, which had limited rail connectivity, he added.

UNI