PM flags off 4 new trains, lays stone for new lines | Patna News
Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday flagged off four new trains and laid foundation stone for new lines and inaugurated a newly built railway line through video conferencing during his visit to Purnia.The trains that were flagged off by the PM included Jogbani-Danapur Vande Bharat Express (02631); Saharsa-Chheharta (Amritsar) Amrit Bharat Express (05531); Jogbani-Erode (Tamil Nadu) Amrit Bharat Express (06602) and a new passenger train on the newly built Araria-Galgalia (Thakurganj) near Kishanganj rail line route.Inauguration of these new trains is being seen as a major boost for regional rail connectivity in north Bihar, said ECR’s chief public relations officer (CPRO) Saraswati Chandra.
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the proposed 26 km-long Vikramshila-Katareah (Bhagalpur) new rail line-cum-bridge, which will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 2,171 crore, a strategic project aimed at easing congestion and enhancing east-west rail connectivity in Bihar.Besides, Modi also inaugurated the newly completed rail line between Araria and Galgalia (Thakurganj) near Kishanganj, a stretch of 111 km, built at a cost of Rs 4,412 crore, opening up a critical transport corridor near the India-Nepal border, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) chief public relations officer (CPRO) K K Sharma said. He added the projects mostly fall under Katihar division of the NFR.According to Samastipur divisional railway manager (DRM) Jyoti Prakash Mishra, introduction of Saharsa-Chheharta Amrit Bharat Express will prove a boon for people of the north Bihar region to travel comfortably to Punjab where a large number of people travel from this region. The inaugural run of the train carried about 300 passengers from Saharsa alone, he said, adding Jogbani-Danapur Vande Bharat Express, which will run six days in a week passing through Samastipur jurisdiction, would provide a faster connectivity to the state capital covering a distance of 453 km in about 8 hours 10 minutes.
