Gateway to Punjab's factory city
Ludhiana is Punjab's biggest city and the heart of its hosiery, bicycle and engineering industries, and Ludhiana railway station, officially Ludhiana Junction (code LDH), is how much of that output and workforce moves. The station lies in the old city near Kamla Nehru Market and belongs to Northern Railway's Firozpur division. It is among the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railways and has been listed among the country's cleanest stations.
How Ludhiana's lines were laid
- 1870: the Scinde, Punjab & Delhi Railway completes its 483 km main line from Amritsar through Ludhiana and Ambala to Ghaziabad. Ludhiana's station dates from these years.
- 1901: the Ludhiana–Jakhal line is laid southwards into Haryana.
- 1905: the Southern Punjab Railway Company opens an extension from Macleodganj Road to Ludhiana, part of the route towards Fazilka near the Pakistan border.
- 1996–97: the Mandi Gobindgarh–Ludhiana stretch is electrified.
- 2001: an electric loco shed is commissioned at Ludhiana.
- 2013: the Sahnewal–Chandigarh link opens, giving Ludhiana a direct route to the state capital.
Four directions from LDH
| Line | Leads to |
|---|---|
| Ambala–Attari | Delhi to the east; Jalandhar and Amritsar to the west |
| Ludhiana–Fazilka | Firozpur region, near the border |
| Ludhiana–Jakhal | Haryana and Rajasthan |
| Ludhiana–Chandigarh | Chandigarh via Sahnewal |
Freight muscle
Ludhiana's industries generate heavy freight traffic, and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, a freight-only railway running towards Bihar, begins at Sahnewal just outside the city. The electric loco shed commissioned in 2001 keeps a large fleet of locomotives running across the region.
The station itself
LDH has 7 platforms on 18 broad-gauge tracks, at an elevation of about 246 metres, and has been taken up for upgrading as a model station.
Getting the most from a Ludhiana stop
- Shatabdi and Vande Bharat trains between Delhi and Amritsar call here; see timings on the train timings page.
- The old-city bazaars start right outside the station, so expect congested roads at business hours.
- Punjab Agricultural University and the Lodhi Fort are short rides away.