Today at Rail Bhawan, an MoU was signed between the Railway Ministry and the State Government of Odisha in presence of the Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu, Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Pattnaik, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Jual Oram, Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
The MoU was regarding construction of railway line connecting Nowrangpur with Jaipur and Jaipur with Malkanagiri by joint venture between the Central Government and the State Government. According to the MoU the State Government would bear 25% of the construction cost along with land cost for Malkangiri line of 138 Km. and 50% land cost and construction cost for Nowrangpur line of 40 Km.
The Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Jual Oram in his address thanked the Hon’ble Prime Minister , the Railway Minister and the Chief Minister of Odisha for having shown special interest to introduce railway lines in the tribal dominated districts of Nowrangpur and Malkangiri in Odisha. This step will help in allaying the Maoist menace and open avenues of development in the tribal district, he added.
Besides these the Railway Minister announced joint venture between State Govt. and the Railway Ministery for modernisation of following Railway Stations.
1.Bhubaneswar, 2. Puri, 3. Bhadrak, 4. Berhampur, 5.Cuttack, 6.Jajpur-Keonjhar Road, 7. Khurda Road, 8. Rayagada, 9. Sambalpur, 10.Balasore, 11.Jharsuguda, 12. Rourkela.
The Railway Minister also announced the introduction of several New Train.
(A) Three pairs of Mail/Express Trains connecting Vishakhapatnam-Chennai, Paradip-Howrah, Paradip-Vishakhapatnam
(B) Four pairs of passengers service : Sambalpur-Bhawanipatna, Gunupur-Vishakhapatnam, Hatia-Rourkela, Sambalpur-Rourkela.
(C) New trains planned for Odisha : 1. One pair of Hum-Safar Train Bhubaneswar-Krishnarajpuram, 2. Howrah-Jashwantpur, 3.Kamakhya- Bangalore.
(D) Three pairs of Antodaya Trains : 1. Tatanagar-Lokamanya Tilak, 2.Santragachi-Chennai, 3. Howrah-Ernakulam