Odisha's Cuttack railway station will be redeveloped as a world class station and Rs 303 crore has been sanctioned for the work, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.
Vaishnaw, along with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, flagged off a new Bhadrak-Nayagarh Town-Bhadrak MEMU train from Cuttack. Regular service will commence from March 31.
In his address, Vaishnaw said that a direct train between Bhadrak and Nayagarh district, connecting five districts via important towns like Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack will fulfill the aspirations of the public.
This was a long pending demand of the people of both Bhadrak and Nayagarh districts and was earlier announced during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the redevelopment of Bhubaneswar railway station in near past.
This has now been fulfilled, he said. Vaishnaw also said this year that railways have constructed 450 km of new rail line in the state this year which is a record. During 2009-14, a mere 50 km of new railway lines were being constructed annually in the state.
"This type of work has not been done during the last 75 years. This shows the Modi government's commitment to Odisha," he added. Pradhan said that it was a commitment of the Railway Ministry under the leadership of Vaishnaw to fulfil the public aspirations of this region and here is the result showing the fulfilment.
Vaishnaw, who is also the Communications and Information Technology Minister, also said that as per the commitment made, 5G service was rolled out in Odisha in the first phase much before the scheduled deadline of March 31.
As many as 12 districts have been provided with the 5G service so far, he added. Later, Vaishnaw released postal stamps on legends of Odisha at Ravenshaw University along with Pradhan.