NAROWAL: The Pakistan Railways has initiated rehabilitation work on the railway track from Narowal to Kartarpur.
The Railways planned to upgrade and rehabilitate the Narowal-Kartarpur track to facilitate Sikh pilgrims visiting Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur from across the border.
The government has taken step to facilitate the Sikh community and others traveling on the route, sources said.
The work has been started to rehabilitate 17 KM long track on the section from Narowal to Darbar Sahib, which was closed for the last 15 years.
According to sources, Pakistan Railways will complete the track renovation in two phases. In the first phase, the railways would rehabilitate the railway track from Narowal to Kartarpur Railway Station.
A passenger train can run at a speed of 100km per hour on this track. The renovation project is expected to be completed by the end of March.
The Kartarpur Corridor is a visa-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan to the border with India.
The crossing allows devotees from India to visit the gurdwara in Kartarpur, 4.7 kilometres (2.9 miles) from the India–Pakistan border on the Pakistani side without a visa. However Pakistani Sikhs are unable to use the border crossing, and cannot access Dera Baba Nanak on the Indian side without first obtaining an Indian visa or unless they work there.
