Sudden closure of Ludhiana railway crossing raises eyebrows

The Radha Swami road railway crossing located in the heart of a dense settlement in the Model Town extension was closed five days back, with no communication on when it’s reopening, leaving neighbourhood residents in limbo.

One side of the railway line lies mostly in a commercial district, while the other is residential. Also, the crossing according to a railways survey is used by over 1,50,000 people daily, as a key crossing for those commuting between Dugri road from Gill Chowk.

JK Arora, who runs a furniture showroom on the crossing, complained that he has not been able to fetch supplies as trucks cannot pass through the narrow alleys that now make the alternative crossing route.

Another resident who did not wish to be named said he had to travel 2-3 km extra to get to the other side to drop his kids to the Atam School..

Although railways have closed down the crossing and dug up the road, there still is no work being carried out at the site.

“This is a busy crossing, but no one in the area was told anything about the closing or when it will be opened again?” laments Inderdeep Singh, who lives right next to the crossing.

Notably, children in the locality cross the line everyday to get to school. Inderdeep said earlier when the crossing was operational, there used to be proper alarms when the train approached, but now there is no warning. “It is only when the train is right in front of you, that you come to know of it,” he said.

“We have to be very careful when the kids are crossing, especially those on cycles, they often get stuck on the track and we have to ask them to be quick when crossing the line,” he added.

On being contacted, railway officials refused to comment on the closure.