Railway minister announces two trains for state

Rail minister Suresh Prabhu on Tuesday announced two new trains for Rajasthan and many projects under North Western Railway (NWR) in a function at the Jaipur Junction.

He said home minister Gulab Chand Kataria had requested him to extend Haridwar-Ajmer train till Udaipur and it will be done soon.

Similarly, a new train from Udaipur to southern part of India will be started soon, he said, adding that a container deport will be set up in Rajasthan. “MP from Jaipur Ramcharan Bohra had demanded a direct train from Jaipur to Shirdi, which I promise to start soon,” Prabhu said.

He said Rajasthan had a glorious past and present is also moving with pace, but all are concerned about the future – infrastructure has to be increased and railways play an very important role in this.

Not much attention was paid towards increasing infrastructure in Rajasthan and not much has been invested in railways after independence, which has certainly affected the development of the state, he said.

Prabhu said between 2009 and 2014, an investment of ₹682 crore per annum was made, which was increased to ₹1,960 crore per annum between 2015 and 2017 and in 2017-18 budget, the amount has been further increased to ₹3,600 crore.

“After the NDA government coming to power at the Centre, attention is being paid on development of Rajasthan, which during the previous government was stopped,” he said. HTC