Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu on Thursday, June 18, 2026, announced that the government has revived the long-pending Qadian-Beas railway line project in Punjab, nearly 100 years after it was first proposed. The 39.68-km broad-gauge line will connect Qadian in Gurdaspur district with Beas in Amritsar district and is estimated to cost around Rs 1,400 crore. The project will be executed by Northern Railway and the alignment will pass through Qadian, Dhapai, Ghuman, Butala, Sathiala and Beas, bringing several areas of Punjab's Majha region onto the railway network. The line will include two crossing stations at Ghuman and Butala, 11 major bridges, 121 minor bridges and 54 Road Under Bridges. It will be equipped with modern signalling and telecommunication systems, and the indigenously-developed Kavach automatic train protection system will be deployed to enhance safety. The project traces its origins to the British era, having been first approved during 1928-29 by the then North-Western Railway, with construction substantially progressing by the early 1930s before being discontinued. It was later revived under the Socially Desirable Rail Connectivity Programme and included in the supplementary Railway Budget 2010-11. Upon completion, the line is expected to improve connectivity to prominent religious destinations and unlock economic opportunities by improving market access for farmers, boosting trade and small-scale industries, and creating employment across the Majha region.