Railways approves first passenger train to President Droupadi Murmu’s native place in Odisha

Odisha's tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district got three of the four pairs of trains that were recently approved by the Indian Railways in the South Eastern Railway jurisdiction, officials said on Wednesday.

The new trains are Kolkata (Shalimar)-Badampahar-Kolkata (Shalimar) Weekly Express, Badampahar-Rourkela-Badampahar Weekly Express, Rourkela-Tatanagar-Rourkela (6 days a week) and Tatanagar- Badampahar-Tatanagar (6 days a week).

"This is for the first time that Tata-Badampahar route will have Mail/Express train connectivity," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a statement issued by the ECoR.

President Droupadi Murmu’s native place Rairangpur and Badampahad in Mayurbhanj district will now get mail or express train, they said.

Vaishnaw said it was a long-pending demand of the people of the area. He added that the new train will fulfill the aspirations of local people, boost the local economy, help development of the tribal area and provide additional connectivity to the aspirational districts. These trains will be introduced soon, the minister said.

Shalimar (Kolkata) - Badampahar-Shalimar (Kolkata) Weekly Express will leave Shalimar at 11.05pm every Saturday and reach Badampahar at 05.40am the next day. While returning, Badampahar-Shalimar Express will leave Badampahar at 9.30pm every Sunday and will arrive at Shalimar at 5am the next day.

The train will stop at Santragachi, Kharagpur, Jhargram, Ghatsila, Asanboni, Tatanagar, Bahalda Road, Aunlajori and Rairangpur.

Badampahar-Rourkeka-Badampahar Weekly Express will leave Badampahar at 06.10am every Sunday and will reach Rourkela at 11.40am. While returning, Rourkela- Badampahar Express will leave Rourkela at 2.20pm every Sunday and will arrive at Badampahar at 7.25pm.

The train will stop at Rairangpur, Aunlajori, Bahalda Road, Tatanagar, Sini, Rajkharswan, Chakradharpur, Goilkera and Manoharpur.

Rourkela-Tatanagar-Rourkela (6 days a week) train will leave Rourkela at 4.50am daily except Sundays and will reach Tatanagar at 09.15am. In its return journey, it will leave Tatanagar at 3.25pm daily except Sundays and will arrive at Rourkela at 7.35pm.

The train will stop at Bisra, Manoharpur, Chakradharpur, Sini and Adityapur.

Tatanagar-Badampahar-Tatanagar (6 days a week) train will leave Tatanagar at 9.55am daily except Sundays and will reach Badampahar at 12.15pm. In the return direction, the train will leave Badampahar at 12.45pm except Sundays and will arrive at Tatanagar at 3.20pm.

The train will stop at Haludpukur, Aunlajori, Rairangpur, Kuldiha and Chhanva, the ECoR said in an official release.