Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday urged the Centre to introduce a Shatabdi Express train between Bhubaneswar-Rourkela via Jharsuguda.
In a letter to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Patnaik said "I would ... request that a Shatabdi Express be introduced between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela via Jharsuguda as Jharsuguda is a major industrial hub in western Odisha whereas the Steel city of Rourkela is the 2nd smart city of the state ..."
The chief minister said the Shatabdi express would serve the genuine transportation demand of people of these two significantly important cities of the state.
Patnaik wrote the letter to Goyal, a day before his visit to Jharsuguda.
He said "... Odisha is the biggest contributor of revenues to Indian Railways in the freight sector, the passenger growth too has been much higher than the national average."
"I would be keenly looking forward to an early favourable response from you on the above proposal," Patnaik said.
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