The Qadian-Beas Railway Line Project in Punjab

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The Government of India has officially revived the long-pending Qadian-Beas New Railway Line Project in Punjab after nearly a century of delays.

This project is a strategic and culturally important infrastructure revival under the Socially Desirable Rail Connectivity Programme.
It aims to connect historically isolated towns to the national broad-gauge network and serve as an emergency route for northern train operations.
The project is located entirely within the Majha region of Punjab.
The corridor physically connects Qadian in the Gurdaspur district with Beas in the Amritsar district.
The tracks will pass through Qadian, Dhapai, Ghuman, Butala, Sathiala, and Beas.

The original rail link was sanctioned during the 1928-1929 fiscal year by the colonial North-Western Railway.
Construction advanced by the early 1930s, but shifting priorities and budget changes forced the British administration to abandon the line.
The project was revived and included in the Supplementary Railway Budget 2010-11 to boost socioeconomic growth.
After decades of land disputes, construction was officially accelerated in June 2026 under the management of Northern Railway.

The railway corridor features a 39.68-kilometer broad-gauge layout built for high-speed safety parameters.
The project is financed with an estimated investment of approximately ₹1,400 crore.
Engineers will build two advanced crossing stations at Ghuman and Butala to handle dual-direction train traffic.
The civil engineering plan includes 11 major bridges, 121 minor bridges, and 54 Road Under Bridges.
The system will feature Kavach, which is India's indigenous automatic train collision avoidance system, along with digital signaling.