BJP Sundargarh district president Dhiren Senapaty said the Railway Budget would pioneer the Indian Railways to modernisation and provide all facilities to passengers.
He said allocation of Rs 1,428 crore, including Rs 100 crore for Talcher-Bimlagarh rail line, is more than previous year’s allocation for the State, he said.
Similarly, he appreciated the Budget for introduction of a train for transportation of coals in the Jharsuguda-Barpalli-Subdega area and provision of new trains, Hatia-Rourkela passenger and Sambalpur-Rourkela DMU.
But, BJD District president Ananda Mohanty, CPI(M) leader Bishnu Mohanty, CPI’s Pravat Mishra, Rail and Road Users’ Association Secretary Amulya Baral, Thinkers Forum’s Nalinikant Dhal and Congress leader Nihar Ray alleged that the western Odisha has been deprived of in the Railway Budget.
Demands like establishing Rourkela as a separate division under the East Coast Railway and provision for regular running of Rajarani Express and Garib Rath and introduction of one more intercity train between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela have not been addressed, they said.