Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday flagged off the much-hyped and much-awaited Gopinathpur (Nilgiri)-Baleswar new MEMU train service.
Dedicating the Baleswar-Gopinathpur Nilgiri passenger line, he said, “The newline and train service have added a new chapter to the Sankalp of Modijee ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash,’ which also stresses on the communication and development of the remote pockets. The people of the tribal infested area were waiting since time of independence for a train and it is dream come true with the beginning of a passenger train from today.”
He informed that prior to 2014 while Odisha was receiving about Rs 800 crore towards railway projects, now the State gets close to Rs 10,000 crore per year. Further, while earlier 45-50 km rail line was built in a year the speed has reached about 10 times and on an average about 450-500 km line is constructed .The stride would be maintained for the coming years too.
“Further, the survey work for a new rail link between Nilgiri and Betnati would begin from today,” said Vaishnaw. He also said a DPR (techno economic feasibility for a new rail line between Jaleswar and Chandaneswar would be prepared. He announced that a road over bridge (RoB) would be constructed at Khantapada considering a long awaited demand.
Baleswar MP Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Nilgiri MLA Sukanta Nayak, Badasahi MLA Sanatana Bijuli and other high dignitaries including railway officials were present.