Catch a Shatabdi to Gurgaon

If plans translate into action, you could soon be boarding a Shatabdi Express to Gurgaon. The extension of the popular train service to the Haryana city is on the cards, with railway officials considering the proposal.

Apart from hundreds of techies and management professionals who shuttle between Chandigarh and Gurgaon for work, the added facility is likely to bring respite to those who don't have private conveyance and often have to take a cab from the New Delhi railway station, an exercise that is more cumbersome than the train ride itself.

Currently, Shatabdi Express plies from Kalka to Delhi, stopping en route at Chandigarh, among the selected places, and back.

Sources at New Delhi said the Gurgaon proposal was being given a serious thought as there was no direct link between the two cities till now, except for the road.

"The proposal is one of great interest and importance to both Gurgaon and Chandigarh. We are looking at facilitating this link before the end of this financial year," an official posted at New Delhi said.

The official added that a meeting of zonal railway user's consultative committee had been scheduled for Wednesday in New Delhi, where the matter of extension of Shatabdi Express was among those to be discussed on priority.

A member of Northern Railways zonal railway user's consultation committee, Joginder Singh Bhogal, told The Times of India that the last few years had witnessed a phenomenal increase in the demand for a train link to Gurgaon from Chandigarh.

He said, "At present, almost 30 to 35% of daily passengers aboard the Shatabdi Express are on their way to and from Gurgaon. If the existing train is extended to Gurgaon, then it would prove to be a boon for passengers residing there too. It would also help decongest the New Delhi railway station to a fair degree."

A weekend visitor to his parents' house in Sector 11 in Chandigarh, Digvijay Singh, who works with an MNC in Gurgaon, said the proposed extension of the train would be of great convenience to passengers like him.
He said, "It is becoming increasingly difficult to get to New Delhi railway station from Gurgaon. Sometimes, it can take up to two hours just to enter the station. If the train is extended to Gurgaon, it would make the lives of hundreds of passengers like me that much easier."