Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday flagged off the extension of the Banaras-Sambalpur bi-weekly Express up to Visakhapatnam from Khetrajpur Railway Station in Sambalpur.
After the flag-off, the train went to Visakhapatnam as a special train. The regular service on the extended route will start from November 22.
The extension of this train will benefit the people of Western and Southern Odisha.
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“It is a matter of great happiness that the Banaras-Sambalpur train has been extended up to Visakhapatnam. The youths of Sambalpur will submit their envisaged designs to make the Sambalpur Railway Station a world-class station,” said Vaishnaw.
Union Minister Pradhan said, “On behalf of the Odisha people, I would like to extend my gratefulness to the Prime Minister for doing what couldn’t be done in the last 75 years. He has rectified the mistakes in the history. The icing on the cake is that the responsibility rests with Ashwini Vaishnaw who knows Odisha better. Earlier, in Odisha, the per annum progress was 50 kilometers. Now it is 450 kms.”