Rlys petitioned to extend Kirandaul-V'patnam train

Koraput: Railways have been petitioned to extend Kirandul-Vishakhapatnam passenger train upto Cuttack to benefit people in tribal-dominated Koraput, Nabarangapur and Malkangiri districts.

In a memorandum sent to Railway Minister, locals and politcal leaders said as Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express was the only train linking southern Odisha with the state capital, extension of Kirandaul (Chhiattisgarh) - Vishakapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) train up to Cuttack would help passengers.

"Per day thousands of people from this part of state travel to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Presently, only one train runs between Koraput and Bhubaneswar (Hirakhand Express), so the extenion of Kirandul-Vishakapatnam train upto Cuttack will be beneficial for people of this part of the state which is highly Maoist affected," the memorandum said.

People of south Odisha, specially tribals, are forced to depend on buses whose ticket prices are more than double the train fare to Bhubaneswar, it said.

Nabarangapur MP Pradeep Majhi said he would take up the proposal with the railway minister to include it in the coming railway budget.