Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday flagged off the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which will run via Sambalpur city, Jharsuguda and Rourkela.
The train which will run once a week every Saturday was flagged off through videoconferencing from New Delhi.
It will run as 20817/20818 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express via Sambalpur City and Jharsuguda with stoppages at Cuttack, Sambalpur City, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Chakradharpur, Anara, Gomoh, Koderma, Gaya, Mughalsarai and Kanpur Central between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi from both the directions.
“Rajdhani Express is the most prestigious train and running of this train via Sambalpur city, Jharsuguda and Rourkela will greatly benefit a large number of people. He assured the people of Odisha that there will be no fund constraint for development of railways in the State and said that Odisha is getting its substantial share in Budget. He also sought the co-operation of the State Government on the issue of land acquisition so that all the pending projects are speeded up, Sinha said.
Similarly, Pradhan appreciated the highest ever fund allocation in the Budget for the infrastructural development of railways and improvement of passenger amenities in Odisha. The running of this train via Sambalpur city and Jharsuguda has fulfilled the long standing demand of the people of western Odisha, said Pradhan.
On the occasion, a function was organised at the Bhubaneswar where Transport Minister Nrushingha Charan Sahu , Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda, MPs Prasanna Patsani and Nagendra Pradhan, MLAs Bijay Kumar Mohanty and Priyadarshi Mishra also spoke.
East Coast Railway AGM Rajeev Sharma welcomed the dignitaries while, ECoR ADRM Khurda Road Division SP Dwivedi delivered a vote of thanks. All the senior railway officers from Khurda Road Division and Headquarter were also present.