Bhubaneswar,04 January 2019 : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged the Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal to introduce more daily passenger trains on the newly constructed Bolangir-Bhainsapalli section of Khurda-Bolangir railway line that has now been connected upto Nayagarh Town.

In a letter to the Railway Minister the Chief Minister said that Odisha Government is partnering Railways and is investing 50% of construction cost as well as providing all land free of cost in the Daspalla to Bolangir portion (177 km) of the project.

In this context, the 16-km Bolangir-Bhainsapalli section of the Khurda-Bolangir railway line has been completed. The mandatory inspection of Commissioner Railway Safety was also completed in October, 2018. However, Railways have not introduced any passenger services over this section.

Therefore the CM requested to introduce passenger trains in this section without any further delay to meet with aspirations of the people of western Odisha, Patnaik stated in the letter.

Similarly, Naveen requested Goyal to extend express train services like Garib Rath Express to Nayagarh. So that people of Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Boudh, Sonepur and Bolangir districts will have better access to the coastal belt.