BHUBANESWAR: Union minister of state for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu has informed that significant progress has been made towards operationalising the long-awaited Rayagada railway division.
Addressing concerns raised by Congress MP from Koraput Saptagiri Ulaka during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, the minister said the Railways is moving steadily on both administrative and infrastructure fronts to make the new division fully functional.
“A day after the foundation stone for the division was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 6, 2025, the DRM was posted at Rayagada, indicating that the administrative framework for the division has already been put in place,” he said.
The tender for construction of the DRM office complex along with other associated works has been awarded, and physical infrastructure development is currently underway. The revised DPR for the Rayagada division has also received approval from the Ministry of Railways. Besides, planning for deployment of additional manpower is in progress to support the functioning of the new division once infrastructure works are completed, the minister informed.
On the demand for improved rail connectivity from the Koraput region, particularly the introduction of a new daytime train service between Koraput and Bhubaneswar via Rayagada, he said Koraput is already connected to the state capital through the Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur Express, which operates via Rayagada.
On the demand for extension of the Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express up to Koraput, Bittu said Bhubaneswar is presently connected with Visakhapatnam by as many as 56 pairs of train services. Visakhapatnam and Koraput are already linked by four pairs of train services, which passengers may utilise for their travel needs, he said.
The minister emphasised that the introduction of new train services, including premium Vande Bharat Express trains, is a continuous and dynamic process within Indian Railways. Such decisions, he said, depend on multiple factors including traffic justification, operational feasibility, and availability of resources. Ulaka, however, termed the response as excuses from the ministry. “Rayagada Division still incomplete, Koraput denied a daytime train, and Vande Bharat reduced to statistics. Zero Hour is for urgent issues - not for the Railways to hide behind paperwork,” he posted on X.