Indian Railways to introduce Jagannath Express and Vande Bharat Express in Odisha

In a bid to promote Jagannath culture, the Indian Railways is planning to launch ‘Jagannath Express’. The proposed Jagannath Express will be introduced before the Rath Yatra festival in Puri which draws lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country and world every year, informed Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday.

According to Vaishnaw, the proposed Jagannath Express will be part of the Bharat Gaurav Trains (Theme- based Tourist Circuit trains) introduced to showcase India's rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world. Already, Ramayan Express was the first under the project and now Jagannath Express will be included and the project will certainly help devotees to get a glimpse of the Jagannath culture, food and language, said Vaishnaw.

The Railway Minister further informed that apart from Jagannath Express, Odisha will also get a Vande Bharat express soon.

When asked about metro train project, Vaishnaw said, “Once we get proposal from Odisha government, we can think and work accordingly. But so far no proposal has been received from the state government.”

Vaishnaw further said that under Narendra Modi’s leadership, massive focus has been given on the development of railway infrastructure in Odisha which was neglected by previous UPA government.

“Work for development of 32 stations has been completed and work is under process for 4 more stations. The work for Bhubaneswar railway station is also on the right track along with Puri station,” Vaishnaw added.

(Reported by Kapilendra Pradhan)