Chief Minister Raghubar Das along with Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Wednesday opened the 57 km long newly-constructed rail line between Hazaribagh and Barkakana. The Chief Minister was in Delhi to attend the programme that was organised at Rail Bhawan and inaugurated via video-conferencing. They also together flagged off Koderma-Hazaribagh passenger train that has been extended up to Barkakana.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Chief Minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Railway Minister for extending the gesture to Jharkhand. "Jharkhand is a rich State filled with possibilities. There are lots of potential with the people. But railway projects in the State got attention only after the formation of Jharkhand which would present lots of opportunities for the people," said Das.
He also requested Suresh Prabhu to rename Hatia-Ernakulam Express after Bhagwan Birsa Munda which he accepted and said that after completing formalities the train would be named as 'Dharti Aaba Express'. Recalling the Prime Minister opening Koderma-Hazaribagh line in February, 2015, the Rail Minister said that the extension is the outcome of that only. "It is an important rail link for the region and I feel former Minister Yashwant Sinha's contribution to this has been immense," Suresh Prabhu said.
Back home in Jharkhand, Hazaribagh MP and MoS Jayant Sinha along with local MlA Manish Jaiswal and others were present on the occasion. "Today is a historic day for the people of Hazaribagh. There are indications that the line would be linked with Ranchi in future which would provide accessibility to metros like Delhi and Kolkata for the locals. This is surely going to benefit in terms of business as well passenger amenities," said the MP.
MlA Manish Jaiswal also congratulated the gathering and said that the pace of infrastructure development assured that Hazaribagh will get connected with Ranchi during the tenure of this Government itself.
DRM of Dhanbad Akhauri Manoj Krishna welcomed the guests and the denizens on the occasion of the maiden run of Hazaribagh-Barkakana passenger train and said that from tomorrow onwards the people will start enjoying the services of the train as per the publicized time table.