Orissa gets New Trains, but gets less allocation in Railway Budget

Bhubaneswar: After being neglected by successive Railway Ministers in the recent years, the people of Orissa had high hopes on incumbent Mamata Banerjee and expected big sops in the Union Railway Budget 2009. However, that did not happen, as the state received just Rs. 715.22 crore budgetary allocation, as compared to Rs. 949.34 crore received last year. However, Orissa got importance in terms of new trains and other infrastructure development.

Out of the 12 non-stop Duronto trains announced by Mamata Banerjee, Orissa got one, which will run from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi once in a week. In addition, the schedule of Rajdhani Express, has been extended to 4 days in a week.

Orissa got several new trains including Kamakhya-Puri Express, Puri-Surat via Sambalpur, Koraput-Rourkela, Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Puri-Cuttack, Puri-Berhampur and Puri-Bhubaneswar.

Orissa had something to cheer, as out of 50 Railway Stations, which will be developed as world class stations, Mamata gave two to India - Bhubaneswar and Puri. Cuttack, Koraput and Rayagada will be developed as model railway stations.

While Mamata Banerjee allocated funds for the existing railway projects in the state. she also sanctioned survey for several areas that were left untouched earlier. They included Banspani – Bimlagarh – Barusuan, Bolangir – Nuapada, Digha – Jaleswar, Dantewada – Malkangiri and Sambalpur – Berhampur.