On Monday, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off the Nanded-Mumbai and Tanakpur-Nanded Express trains and inaugurated the extension of the Tanakpur-Pilibhit train service up to Shahjahanpur through video conferencing from Rail Sadan in Bhubaneswar.
Speaking at the event via video conference, Vaishnaw said that these new train services will provide better connectivity and will be beneficial for passengers, especially the Sikh community in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Railway Minister said, "There was a long-standing demand for a train from Tanakpur to Nanded Sahib, Hazur Sahib. It will benefit the large Sikh community in the Terai regions of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Everyone wishes to stay connected to the 'Panj Takht', and this railway connectivity will fulfil that sentiment."
He also added that Railways would survey the demand for providing stoppages at Khatima and Banbasa." The demand that has come for Khatima and Banbasa will be examined fully in the next few days. If it becomes possible, we will definitely provide a stoppage for this train at Khatima and Banbasa."
Talking about the Nanded-Mumbai Express, the Union Minister said that the train would be better for connectivity of regions like Washim, Hingoli and Basmat, helping passengers from Marathwada and Vidarbha.
He also announced that the Tanakpur-Pilibhit train service has been now extended to Shahjahanpur and added that Tanakpur- Agra service, which was earlier a special train operation has now been regularized.
Highlighting the Railways’ performance in the last 12 years, Vaishnaw said around 37,000 kms of new tracks have been built while electrification has reached 99.6%.
"In past 12 years, an effort for transformation of the railways is going on. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given special attention to the railways, due to which today about 37,000 km of new railway tracks have been built. Never before in India's history has such development of railways taken place. This is a very big achievement for the country and was a very big need for the country. Along with this, electrification of the railways has reached 99.6%," he said.
The minister added that the bullet train project is also moving at a rapid pace and will start next year. Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors are completed, and work on new east-west freight corridors connecting Dankuni to Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh is also underway.
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He mentioned that the Railways continues to give priority to affordable travel and out of the 12,000 general coaches being manufactured, about 4,000 have been attached to trains.
"Special attention is being given to the fact that railways is the ride of the poor and middle-class families. That's why a lot of attention has been given to increasing our affordable services as much as possible. Instead of premium services, the focus is more on affordable services. And if you see, the work of manufacturing about 12,000 general coaches is going on. Out of those, about 4,000 general coaches have been attached and deployed in trains," he said.
He also highlighted the record operation of over 15,000 special trains during the summer season ending on June 30, calling it a landmark achievement. In addition, he announced that over 300 special trains would run during the Jagannath Rath Yatra in Puri and more than 100 special trains would be run during Onam festival in Kerala.
Odisha's railway network is set for a major transformation, with projects worth over Rs 90,000 crore currently under implementation, said Ashwini Vaishnaw who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha.
