Mumbai, July 15 -- Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the Puri-Koraput Express and the Berhampur-Udhna (Surat) Amrit Bharat Express at Puri and Berhampur stations.
The chief minister said the Puri-Koraput service will run three days a week and will connect eastern, western and southern Odisha, and that it will benefit residents of southern and western districts travelling to Puri for darshan or to Bhubaneswar for business and official work.
The Puri-Koraput Express will call at major junctions including Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Angul, Sambalpur and Rayagada before reaching Koraput, departing Puri on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and leaving Koraput on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Puri railway station is being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat station scheme at a cost of Rs 1.84 billion (bn) to enhance the pilgrimage experience, and the minister and the chief minister inspected the redevelopment and reviewed Railways' preparedness for the Rath Yatra.
At Berhampur, station upgradation under the scheme has been allocated Rs 3 bn to strengthen ties with Surat and Gujarat and to support commuters, and officials highlighted the contribution of hundreds of thousands of workers and businessmen from Odisha based in Surat to the textile and diamond sectors.
The minister participated in a video-conference from Rail Sadan, Bhubaneswar, where he flagged off additional regional services and sanctioned extensions, and leaders urged the railways to consider further links for northern districts and to continue station improvements to manage passenger flows; preparations will continue ahead of major festivals to ensure smooth operations and officials said the measures aim to improve safety, punctuality and passenger amenities across the network.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.