BHUBANESWAR: The Ministry of Railways is likely to introduce two passenger trains that will connect Odisha with Ayodhya Dham. While one regular bi-weekly Express train has been proposed between Puri and Darshan Nagar (near Ayodhya), another proposed bi-weekly Visakhapatnam-Gorakhpur Express will pass through Bhubaneswar, Angul and Jharsuguda.
As per the initial proposal, Puri-Darshan Nagar Express will run on Tuesdays and Fridays and it will have 21 stoppages. The Visakhapatnam-Gorakhpur Express having 30 stoppages will operate on Sundays and Wednesdays. “The approval of the Railway Board on the introduction of the two trains is awaited,” railway sources said.
Meanwhile, East Coast Railway (ECoR) general manager Manoj Sharma inspected the Khurda Road-Daspalla railway section of the Khurda Road Balangir project on Wednesday. He reviewed the safety and passenger amenity works along with ongoing infrastructure-related works in the railway section.
Sharma took stock of various passenger amenities works, development of parking area, circulating area, and landscaping and also reviewed the status of various infrastructure-related works at Daspalla railway station. Of the 301-km Khurda Road-Balangir rail line project, 152.8 km has been completed so far. ECoR plans to complete 73 km more from Sonepur to Purunakatak this year.