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Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal for immediate introduction of more trains on the Khurda-Bolangir new railway line.
"I had raised the need for introducing more trains over this aspirational railway line which as of now has been connected up to Nayagarh Town," Patnaik said in a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, referring to a communication he had sent to the Centre in June 2017.
The chief minister said the State government is partnering railways and is bearing 50 per cent construction cost as well as providing all land free of cost in Daspalla to Bolangir portion (177 km) of the project.
Mentioning that all works and mandatory inspection for the 16-km long Bolangir-Bhainsapali section of Khurda-Bolangir railway line has been completed in October 2018, CM Naveen said that a passenger train should be introduced on the new section without any further delay.
This apart, the CM has also requested Goyal to extend express train services like that of Garib Rath to Nayagarh siatuated on the railway line.
"Mail express trains from Nagarah town, which is a distrcit headquarters, need to be immediately considered for connectivity to Howrah and Vishakhapatnam. There are trains like Garib Rath Express originating from Bhubaneswar can be extended to Nayagarh town without any difficulty," wrote Patnaik in his letter.
The chief minister has expressed that these trains when introduced will greately help people of Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Boudh, Sonepur and Bolangir distrcits to have better access to the large coastal belt of the State as well as to the economic hubs of Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the completed section of the railway line during his visit to Bolangir on January 16 later this month.
Earlier on October 30 last year, a trial run on the railway track between Bolangir and Bhainsapalli was conducted by the East Coast Railways.
While the project is expected to complete by 2020, out of 289 km Khurda-Balangir railway line, the Ministry of Railways has already commissioned 66-km Khurda Road-Nayagarh stretch, sources said.
