Fulfilling the long-standing demand of the people of the State, the Naini-Doon Janshatabdi Express was flagged off on Saturday at Kathgodam railway station. The Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced the commencement of the train via video conferencing. A ceremony to mark the occasion was held at the Kathgodam railway station in which the BJP MP from Nainital, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni and a large number of people’s representatives participated. The passenger bogies and the engine of the new train were decked up with flowers for the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, the Railway Minister said that the new train would help the people, particularly those living in the Kumaon region. He, further, said that Indian Railways has undertaken a survey to connect the Char Dhams in Uttarakhand with rail network. “It would be historic one once completed,” he said. He said that the work to electrify all the routes spread across the State is also underway after which the diesel engines would be phased out in the State. Apart from increasing the speed of trains, it would also help in preserving the environment, he said. Moreover, Goyal said, all the stations of Uttarakhand would be provided with free wi-fi facility for the passengers. At present, only seven stations in the State are having the wi-fi facility, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the Nainital MP and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari said that the new train would help in promoting tourism and also in giving a new impetus to development of the State.
He said that the people here hope that trains would reach Karanprayag and Bageshwar in the future.
Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said that the train would offer a big relief to the people as now they can complete the journey from Dehradun to Haldwani in a single day.
The enthusiasm of people for the new train can be gauged from the fact that all its tickets were sold out. The heavy downpour on the occasion delayed the flag off programme by about 40 minutes.
The programme was attended among others by the former MP Balraj Pasi, former Union Minister Bachi Singh Rawat, MlA Kaladungi Banshidhar Bhagat and MlA Nainital Sanjeev Arya.
Navin Mal of Dhari Block of Nainital district became the first passenger to travel in the Naini-Doon Janshatabdi Express.
The railway authorities disclosed that he was the first person to book his ticket in the train. Mal travelled on seat number 49 in the C-1 AC chair-car. The train has 12 passenger bogies out of which two are AC chair-cars, five general chair-cars and three sleepers.