FOCUS IS ON PASSENGER SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE
Bhubaneswar(Kalinga Voice) : Union Minister of Railways, Communication, Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India Shri Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off of the new modern LHB Rake of 08445/08446 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar, Hirakhand Express, today evening, through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Vaishnaw said that, Hon’ble PM has been stressing upon the need for bringing about reforms in Railways. The vision is to make a wholesome transformation and not just incremental changes. Our Government is pursuing these projects on an express mode. Every year about Rs. 6000 Cr. to 7000 Cr. Rupees is being sanctioned in the budget for development of rail infrastructure in Odisha. This Union Government is committed to provide better connectivity and amenities to our esteemed passengers.
During his recent visit to Odisha, Shri Vaishnaw had travelled with the passengers in Hirakhand Express and taken their feedback about the rail services. Introducing new modern LHB rakes in Hirakhand Express will provide better and more pleasant journey experience to train passengers, added Shri Vaishnaw.
Apart from this, Hirakhand Express covers its journey of 784 kms from Bhubaneswar to Jagdalpur having stoppages at 21 intermediate stations in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh under ECoR’s jurisdiction. On-board passengers of this train can now enjoy the scenic beauty of valley, tunnels, fauna and flora of this train route with the comfort ride of the new modern LHB coach having bigger windows and aesthetic modular interiors.
Shri Vaishnaw said that, LHB Coach in Hirakhand Express will provide better comfort and jerk free journey to the passengers, Railways have decided to run Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express with modern Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches by replacing conventional coaches running at present. LHB coaches are anti-telescopic, safer, lighter, and more comfortable and jerk free. Replacement of ICF conventional coaches phase wise with LHB coaches is being done from safety point of view. Hirakhand Express will now run with a load combination of 12 coaches as earlier, i.e. 01 AC 2 Tier, 02 AC-3 Tier, 04 Sleeper Class, Three Second Class Seating and 02 Guard cum Luggage & Divyangjan Coaches.
Hon’ble Union Minister of Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Govt. of India Shri Dharmendra Pradhan joining in the function informed that, Special attention is being given by Union Government to this region in the field of developmental of Railway infrastructure and projects.
Ministers, Govt. of Odisha Shri Ashok Chandra Panda; Hon’ble MP Shri Saptagiri Sankar Ullaka, Hon’ble MLAs Shri Suresh Ku Routray, Shri Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Shri Ananta Narayan Jena, Shri Susant Kumar Rout aad Shri Makaranda Muduli were graced the occasion as Guests of Honours at Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
