Bhubaneswar: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today inaugurated the newly constructed Nuagaon Road – Daspalla Railway section in Nayagarh district.
He also inaugurated Daspalla Railway station building and flagged off passenger train services to Daspalla in a special function witnessed by a large gathering of about 8,000 people held at Daspalla railway station.
After the flag off, services of four passenger trains Bhubaneswar-Nayagarh Town-Bhubaneswar Express, Bhubaneswar-Nuagaon Road-Bhubaneswar Passenger Special, Puri-Nuagaon Road-Puri Passenger Special and Bhadrak-Nayagarh Town-Bhadrak MEMU were extended to Daspalla.
During his visit to Daspalla, Shri Vaishnaw was greeted by more than 300 people at Sanapadar and thanked him for sanctioning the passenger halt. A gathering of about 500 people felicitated the Railway Minister at Nayagarh town and Mahipur station and thanked him for taking steps to expedite the long standing Khurda-Balangir rail line project work.
He said that Gopalpur-Rairakhol new rail line will be reviewed to include Phulbani, District Headquarter of Kandhamal district in the railway map. The Union Minister further added that feasibility of connecting Kantilo and Khandapada with Khurda-Balangir rail line project will be explored.
Earlier on the day before visiting Daspalla in an inspection train, he visited the Bhubaneswar railway station and reviewed the ongoing station redevelopment works and directed the officials to expedite the construction activities so as to complete the project before schedule.
Speaking to media persons here, Shri Vaishnaw said many railway stations in Odisha have been selected among 57 stations in India to be converted into world-class stations.
Khurda-Balangir railway project has been completed from Daspalla and Bolangir to Sonepur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also presented Amrit Bharat and Vande Bharat Express Trains to Odisha. The PM will also present the Vande Metro Train to Odisha in the coming days, the Minister announced.
Before 2014, Odisha witnessed only a 50 km expansion of railway lines per year. However, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, there has been a 450 km expansion of railway lines in the State per year, he informed.
The budget allocation to Odisha for the railway sector has also increased substantially during the Shri Modi government regime, he added.