NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, during his visit to Patna on Monday ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, announced the introduction of four new Amrit Bharat trains and that a budget of Rs 10,000 crore has been sanctioned to strengthen railway infrastructure in the state.
Speaking at the 'bhoomi pujan' ceremony for a new level crossing gate near Karpoori Gram railway station in Samastipur district, the minister also inaugurated several upgraded passenger amenities at the station.
"The NDA government at the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has sanctioned Rs 10,000 crore in this year's budget for rail infrastructure in Bihar," Vaishnaw told reporters.
"In the past 11 years, over 34,000 km of new railway tracks have been laid, and 1,300 stations are being redeveloped as modern Amrit Bharat stations," he added.
The four new trains will include a daily train from Patna to Delhi, weekly services from Darbhanga and Malda to Gomti Nagar in Lucknow, services from Saharsa to Amritsar in Punjab, and a daily service from Jogbani to Erode in Tamil Nadu.
The minister also announced that the Karpoori Gram railway station would now come under the Samastipur railway division.
Earlier, it was under the jurisdiction of Sonpur railway division.
Speaking about upcoming railway infrastructure projects, the minister announced that a third rail line between Bhagalpur and Jamalpur, covering a distance of 53 kilometres, will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,156 crore.
He further added that the doubling of the Bakhtiyarpur–Rajgir–Tilaiya rail route, spanning 104 kilometres, will be carried out at a cost of Rs 2,017 crore.
Another major project – the doubling of the Rampurhat–Bhagalpur route – is also being planned, with an estimated budget of Rs 3,000 crore and a total distance of 177 kilometres.
The minister also spoke about developments in the technology sector. He announced that two new Software Technology Parks of India (STPIs) for Bihar are ready and will be inaugurated soon. One is the new STPI building in Patliputra, Patna, which has been built at a cost of around Rs 53 crore, and the other is an upcoming STPI in Darbhanga, with an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore.
Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, son of Karpoori Thakur, was also present on the occasion.
Earlier in the day in Patna, the railway minister inspected passenger facilities at Digha Bridge halt station and gave necessary instructions to officials.