Railways opens Ambala-Chandigarh track

The Northern Railway successfully commissioned the 22.71 km of the Ambala-Chandigarh Doubling Project today.
Following the Statutory Inspection of Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) RK Kardam on 4 and 5 October, the Railways obtained the statutory clearances of Safety and Standards and the line has been declared open for both passenger and goods trains, a railway release said here.
The CCRS was accompanied by BD Garg, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), DRM (Ambala) Dinesh Kumar and his team of officers and other officials.
Speed trial run over the entire section between Ambala Dhapper has been conducted and the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety after checking all the facilities provided and the standards thereof has permitted opening of the line to both, the release added.

The doubling work between Ambala-Dhapper (22.71 km) was sanctioned in the year 2010-11 alongwith material modification containing doubling between Dhapper-Chandigarh (22.45 Km) at a later stage during 2013, at a cost of Rs 338.54 cr.
This involves a total length of 45 km and a total of 4 stations i.E. Dhulkot, Lalru, Dhapper and Ghaggar between major stations Ambala and Chandigarh.
After the commissioning of this stretch between Ambala-Chandigarh section, only a small portion of 22.45 Km between Dhapper-Chandigarh remains to be converted into double line.
Work on Dhapper-Chandigarh section is in full swing and targeted for commissioning by December, 2016, the release said.