Bansal slams UT over rejection of world-class project for city railway station.

In his letter to the UT Administrator, former Chandigarh MP Pawan Kumar Bansal has flayed the local administration for rejecting the plans of Indian Railways to develop the Chandigarh Railway Station as a world-class station on the ground that this may destroy the character of the city.

'Instead of adopting a futuristic approach, we seem to be stuck in a time warp. I do not think the planners of the city beautiful ever thought of placing such an embargo on the futuristic development of the city,' he stated. He further mentioned that earlier, Chandigarh had been chosen among five stations for constructing world-class railway stations in the country, for which appointing consultants and other preliminary steps were also undertaken.

'The plan stipulates building passenger lounges, high-quality eating joints, a commercial hub, and hotels on upper floors with escalators leading to the ground floor railway platforms. This would give impetus to the economy of Chandigarh and enable its connectivity to all other important cities of the country. The proposed high-speed (bullet) train between Delhi and Chandigarh will also need commensurate terminal infrastructure,' he said.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS