Rail min Vaishnaw flags off new coaches on old Puri-Hatia route

Bhubaneswar: Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday flagged off the Puri-Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express with Rajdhani-type coaches from Bhubaneswar railway station. The Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) designed coaches will bring comfort to passengers travelling in the train.
This train (introduced in 1996) is an important one which connects several districts of Odisha. It connects Puri, Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Talcher, Angul, Rairakhole, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Rajgangpur, Rourkela and Nuagaon before reaching Hatia in Jharkhand.
LHB coaches have more safety features with modular interiors and fittings, more seating capacity with lesser noise and other features like high-capacity cooling and an improved suspension system for a hassle-free journey.
Vaishnaw, who is on a two-day visit to Odisha, spoke on various ongoing railway projects in the state. “We will dedicatedly work on the railway projects, but it is the responsibility of the state to provide land for this,” Vaishnaw said.
He said work on the Mahipur-Nuagaon stretch of 289-km Khurda Road-Balangir new line will be completed and commissioned by the end of February. The Nuagaon to Daspalla section of this project will be completed in the next 10 months. The Daspalla to Buguda section has a major problem of land acquisition due to issue with forest clearance.
From the Balangir side, construction work is under way connecting Sonepur, Boudh and Champapur. “I hope within the next 14 months work in these areas will become completed,” said the minister.
The Bargarh-Nuapada new line project was accorded in-principle approval by the Centre. A project connecting Junagarh in Odisha with Bhadrachalam in Telangana via Nabarangpur, Jeypore and Malkangiri has also been approved. It will touch some unconnected districts with the railway map of India, said the minister.
He also said the railway has come forward to develop Bhubaneswar railway station.
“Survey has already been conducted for the project. Final design of the station redevelopment will be done soon. We will continue our development work. Funds will not be a problem for the work,” Vaishnaw added.
Inspired By