Bhubaneswar: Second Vande Bharat Express train service on Bhubaneswar-Rourkela route to start operation in Odisha very soon, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced here today.
While addressing at a public meeting here, Shri Vaishnaw said the route for the second Vanda Bharat Express train has been finalised and it will start operation soon. The train would run from steel city Rourkela to capital city Bhubaneswar via Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Angul and Talcher, he said.
Odisha’s first Vanda Bharat Express was launched between Puri and Howrah on May 18 last by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing.
The Railways Minister said that prior to 2014, about 53 km railway tracks were laid annually, but now it has increased to 459 km. He also said that the Central grant for development of railway sector in Odisha has been enhanced during Modi government tenure.
The railway developmental works in Odisha have been enhanced to more than eight times in the past few years. Prior to 2014, Odisha has been getting Rs 800 to 850 crore railway grant in a year and it has now increased to Rs 10,000 crore, Shri Vaishnaw stated.
Railway station redevelopment work is going on in many stations across the State, wherever the mast plan is finalized. In other stations, master plans are being prepared, he said.
Indirectly targeting the BJD over low tele-density in Odisha, he said 7,562 telecom towers were there in 2014. Now, the 26,512 telephone towers are there in the State, he pointed out.
Further, he said, there were 22,942 VPS (equipment installed in telecom towers for communication) in the State in the year 2014. Now, it has been increased to 85,556, the Minister said.
The number of broadband connections has also increased in Odisha from 6 lakh connections in 2014 to 2.20 lakh broadband subscribers now. Optical fibre connection was laid down at around 40,000 km in 2014, which has been increased to 1,37,000 km now, he said.
Earlier, the Union Railway had stated that as many as 50 students of the Saraswati Vidya Mandir school will be selected through a competition and given a free ride of the Vande Bharat Express, an electric-powered train aimed at providing a rich travel experience to passengers.
After performing the inaugural rituals of the Saraswati Vidya Mandir school, the Railway Minister interacted with the students. “When the students saw Vande Bharat’s video, they had a desire to travel in the train. A competition will be conducted, and out of all of them, 50 will be selected and given a free ride in the Vanda Bharat Express,” Shri Vaishnaw had stated.
