The much-awaited rail link between Chandigarh and Amritsar, via Morinda and Sirhind, will be operational by December.

The completion of this link depends upon the electrification of the Chandigarh-Morinda rail line which, according to the railway authorities, will be ready by the end of this month.

“The work on Morinda bypass and electrification of the Chandigarh-Morinda line will be completed by end of this month. This will facilitate the rail link from Chandigarh to Amritsar, via Ludhiana and Jalandhar, which will start operations by the end of December,” Ambala Divisional Railway Manager H K Jaggi said. “Considering the demand of people travelling to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, the line could be extended till Jammu.”

This will be the shortest rail route between Chandigarh and Amritsar. The distance will be covered by express or inter-city trains and take around four and a half hours, Jaggi added.

These days, work is in full swing on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link project. Around 143.32 hectares of land, from Khamano to Sahnewal, was recently handed over to the railways by the state government for the project. The completion of phase-II of the project, from Morinda to Sahnewal, was delayed because of delay in land transfer.

The Chandigarh-Amritsar rail link is expected to compete with private AC buses, which have economy fare.

These buses, despite being opposed by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking and the Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation employee unions, are said to generate good revenue.

Two years ago, there was a passenger train run by the Northern Railways between Chandigarh and Amritsar, via Ambala Cantonment. But this train was terminated due to poor response, as it covered the distance in around five and a half hours.