The village, with a population of barely 1,900 voters, collected its own funds and built a railway halt on the Delhi-Rewari-Jaipur line for Rs 25 lakh with help from the railways. Each family contributed Rs 3,000 for the construction work, which took almost a year, village head (sarpanch) Jug Lal said.

The villagers now plan to inaugurate it on Tuesday — they have invited Lok Sabha MP from Gurgaon, Congress’s Rao Inderjeet Singh, to do the honours.

According to officials, railways provided villagers with land and helped them with the technical bit in constructing the 1,000-foot-long and 18-foot-wide, two-platform halt.

A Northern Railways official said once operational, seven passenger trains — each running in both directions — will stop daily for a minute each. No mail or express train will stop here.

“The platform was constructed under the supervision of railway authorities,” the official said. “Railways ensured that all standards and technical specifications are met and also cleared the site plan.”

Villagers said once the halt is functional, it will make life easier for residents of 14 or 15 villages in the vicinity to commute to Delhi, Gurgaon and Rewari for work.

Sarpanch Jug Lal said the nearest station till now is seven kilometres — Hailey Mandi on one side and Garhi Harsaru on the other. To reach Gurgaon or Rewari, residents had to travel several kilometers till Jamalpur Road in Farrukhnagar, or till Pataudi Road, and then wait for tempos. They would then have to take shared autos to reach their destinations.

“It costs between Rs 25 to Rs 30 one way,” Lal said. “Besides, family members of those who returned from work late were perennially anxious, for it’s difficult to get a conveyance at night. The passenger train will not only cut down travel time but also save us money.”

Lal said villagers had requested the district authorities on several occasions earlier to make a regular stop at Taj Nagar since the tracks were barely 100 metres from the village. But with no result for years, they formed a village committee, comprising the village head and other seniors to build this halt, former sarpanch Hukum Singh said.

The railways have charged the villagers Rs 5.60 lakh for the land, which also includes Rs 50,000 for the four main display boards outside the halt, project drawing reports, and supervision of construction work. A senior railway official said, “As of now, the task of ticketing will be given to a private company, which will earn a commission.”