Howrah/Bhubaneswar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday launch railway projects worth over Rs 8,000 crore in Odisha and flag off the state’s first ‘Vande Bharat Express’, which will connect Puri to Howrah in West Bengal. The officers provided this information.
He will flag off the Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express via video conference at around 1 pm. It will be the fastest train on this route to cover the distance of 500 kilometers in about six and a half hours, a South Eastern Railway official said in Kolkata. Apart from this, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Puri and Cuttack railway stations. Will also dedicate 100 percent electrification of the network to the nation. An East Coast Railway official said in Bhubaneswar that this would reduce the cost of operation and maintenance and reduce dependence on imported crude oil.
He will also inaugurate the doubling of the Sambalpur-Titlagarh rail line, a new broad-gauge rail line between Angul and Sukinda, a third line connecting Manoharpur-Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Jamga and a new broad-gauge line between Bichupali and Jhartarbha.Officials said that this would also help meet the increased traffic demands resulting from rapid industrial growth in the steel, power and mining sectors in Odisha and ease the pressure on passenger traffic on these sections.Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will attend the program at Puri station.
Both the ministers along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sambit Patra visited the famous Jagannath temple in Puri in the morning. A cultural program was also organized at Howrah station to flag off the Vande Bharat Express, which will be the second train of West Bengal. Regular operation of 22895/22896 Howrah-Puri-Howrah Vande Bharat Express will start from May 20, officials said. Running six days a week except Thursday, the train will leave Howrah at 6.10 am and will depart from Howrah in the afternoon. It will reach Puri at 12:35. In the return direction, it will leave Puri at 1:50 pm and reach Howrah at 8:30 pm. The 16-coach train will stop at Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Khurda Road.
Inputs From: india.com
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