Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off 10 new Vande Bharat trains, including the third for Odisha, expanding the total count to over 50 and covering 45 nationwide routes, via video conferencing from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
The flagging off ceremony of Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Vande Bharat in a unique grey-saffron colour was held at Visakhapatnam railway station. It is expected to arrive at Bhubaneswar railway station at 3 pm.
The third Vande Bharat express train in Odisha will operate between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam. This train will run six days a week except Saturdays and have stoppages at Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road and Berhampur in Odisha and at Palasa, Srikakulam Road and Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh.
A trial run of the train was conducted on March 8.
The first Vande Bharat started operations between Puri and Howrah in May 2023. The second on the Puri–Rourkela route was flagged off in September last year.
The PM also dedicated and lay foundation stone for 274 railway projects in Odisha. These projects include 162 electronic interlocking systems, 41 One Station One Product (OSOP) stalls, 50 solar power stations, 5 goods sheds, 9 new line, doubling and 3rd line projects, 4 auto signaling systems, one Gati Sakti terminal, one Jan Ausadhi Kendra and one rail coach restaurant.
The 9 new line, doubling & 3rd line projects:
- Rs.234 cr. Haridaspur-Byree(16.8 Kms.) of Bhadrak-Nergundi 3rd Line section,
- Rs.131 crore, Damanjodi-Baiguda (14.6 Kms.) of Korapur-Raigada doubling section,
- Rs.167 crore. Singapur Road-Rayagada (9.2 Kms.) of Vijianagam-Titlagarh 3rd Line,
- Rs.123 crore Similiguda-Araku-Gorapur (21.6 Kms.) of Kotavlasa-Koraput doubling section,
- Rs.47 crore Kota-Boddavara (7.3Kms) section of Kotavalasa-Koraput doubling,
- Rs.550 crore Jharsuguda-Jamaga (53 Kms) of Bilaspur-Jharsuguda 4th line section,
- Rs.61.73 crore Link B-Link C Bondamunda of (Bondamunda-Ranchi doubling section,
- Rs.129.95 crore Nawagaon-Orga (6.8 Kms) of Ranchi-Bondamunda doubling section
- Rs.36.12 crore Ranital-Ranital (L) 4th Line (3 Kms) of Narayangarh-Bhadrak 4th Line section.