BJP MP from Sriganganagar Nihal Chand speaks to The Indian Express on train links for the Sikhs in his constituency to places of pilgrimage like Amritsar. Why you raised the issue? The Bikaner-Puri Express halts in my constituency for 90 minutes. I wanted to draw the government’s attention to say that more people can be served if this duration could be reduced. How can that be done? The train 14709 halts for 90 minutes. If they decide to run it to Amritsar then the halt time can be significantly reduced without use of any extra resources because the train anyway remains stationary. Why is this important? My constituency is home to 5 lakh Sikhs. There is no train that connects it with Amritsar. I feel it is important to have a train for this purpose. How has the response from the Railways Minister been on this? He has been very positive. Immediately after my speech, I got calls from the Railway Board and the minister also said that it will be done. Officials asked me to explain what it is exactly that I demanded. Are there other demands from your constituency? We are very happy that Railways has given a goods shed to our constituency. Then there is a pit line for the Vande Bharat Express. The minister has been very positive towards our demands.
