Bhubaneswar: Affirming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to ensure speedy development of railway sector in Odisha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said visible changes have already taken place in the last ten years after BJP came to power at the Centre.
Asserting that the Prime Minister has a great vision for railway development in the state, Vaishnaw said Odisha was earlier getting a meagre allocation of around Rs 800 crore for railway development.
During BJP government, the state is being allocated over Rs 10,000 crore for railway development, in sharp contrast to the funds provided by the previous governments, he said.
The Railway Minister, who was visiting the state during electioneering, told the media that only 50 km of rail line work was being done every year before 2014 and now it has been increased to 200 km per year.
Stating that remarkable progress has been made in the Khurda-Balangir railway project, Vaishnaw said projects with an investment of Rs 50,773 crore are being implemented in the state now.
Emphasising that the Modi government is keen to make available world class railway system in Odisha, the Minister said while three Vande Bharat trains are already operating, Vande Metro and Vande Sleepers are going to be launched soon.
Similarly, the work for transforming 52 railway stations in the state into world class stations is going on in full swing. Of these, the work for 48 stations has has been accelerated, he said.
