Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched the service through video conferencing from New Delhi.
However, the regular train service in the extended portion will start from August 13.
18109 Sambalpur-Jammu Tawi Link Express will leave Sambalpur at 0745 hrs everyday and reach at Jammu Tawi at 1410 hrs the next day.
The train will leave Jammu Tawi at 1425 hrs everyday and will reach Sambalpur at 1745 hrs on third day. On the extended portion, this train will provide stoppage at Jharsuguda, Bamra and Rajgangpur between Sambalpur and Rourkela. The timings and stoppages for this train between Rourkela & Jammu Tawi will remain unchanged.
Official sources said free WiFi services will also be inaugurated at Palasa station.
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While train on this route was earlier running from Khurda Road to Bolagarh Road, it was extended till Nayagarh. Besides, flagging off the new passenger train service, Prabhu inaugurated the Nayagarh Town Station building and public halt at Bolagarh.
Pradhan thanked Prabhu for dedicating the project to public and also asked the latter to set up a public toilet at Bolagarh.
A special inauguration function had been organised at Nayagarh Road station on this occasion. The event was graced by Nayagarh MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo. Divisional Railway Manager of Khurda Road Brijmohan Agrawal and CEO of East Cost Railway (ECoR) RS Dubey were also present on the occasion at Nayagarh Town Station.
Earlier on May 11, a trial run of an engine had been conducted on this 12 kilometre railway route out of the 289-km-long railway line project. Later, a Speed trial of a passenger train was also conducted from Nayagarh to Bolagarh on June 6 to check if the section was fit for carriage of passenger traffic.
It is pertinent to note that the 54.5-km railway track between Khurda Road and Bolagarh has already been commissioned and two pairs of trains are plying along the line.
On July 16, 2015, Prabhu had dedicated the 289 kilometres Khurda-Balangir railway line till Begunia. Later in 2016 it was connected to Rajsunakhala. The minister along with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will dedicate it to the nation by means of video conferencing today afternoon.
Following it MLAs of Ranpur and Begunia will flag off the railway service at Bolagarh.
Similarly, Prabhu will inaugurate the extension of Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Rajyarani Express up to Gunupur. Along with it the minister is scheduled to lay foundation stones and inaugurate many projects in the State.
He will lay foundation stones for Khurda Road bypass line, fourth line between Rourkela and Bondamunda, Multi Disciplinary Training Centre at Jagatpur in Cuttack and maintenance facilities for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) units at Khurda Road.