Bettiah: Another Vande Bharat express train will start running from Patna very soon. It will operate between Gorakhpur and Patna, announced Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a function to inaugurate a railway over bridge at Bettiah on Sunday.
The minister said that the railway ministry has proposed to run about 450 new trains across the country, which include a Vande Bharat train between Gorakhpur and Patna. This service is likely to start in the next three to four months.
This will be the fourth Vande Bharat train to run from Patna. Currently, Vande Bharat trains are operating to Ranchi, Howrah and Tatanagar from Patna.
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The Railway Minister said that the Central government is now giving ₹10,000 crore for the development and upgrade of railway services in Bihar, which was ₹1,000 crore earlier. This will strengthen the railway network of the state and give impetus to economic development.
During his visit, the Railway Minister inaugurated the Bettiah Cantonment Overbridge, which has been built at a cost ₹103 crore. Although the minister was scheduled to open the RoB, he invited women on the stage and got the overbridge inaugurated by them through remote control. This unique style impressed the people a lot and made the ceremony memorable.
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“The central government has invested ₹95,000 crore rupees to strengthen the railway network across Bihar, so that the development of the state can be ensured,” said the Railway Minister, adding that the Central Government has approved railway projects worth ₹4,553 crore for Champaran, which include doubling the Narkatiaganj – Raxaul – Sitamarhi – Muzaffarpur rail track. Apart from this, 1,832 km of railway track has been constructed and electrified in Bihar in the last ten years. As many as 98 railway stations are being developed under the ‘Amrit Station’ scheme.
The Railway Minister said that 95,000 new vacancies will be notified in Indian Railways this year. Earlier, the Railways had given 1.50 lakh jobs. He said that four new types of trains like Amrit Bharat Version-2, Namo Bharat, Vande Bharat (AC+Sleeper), and high-speed Vande Bharat Express will be launched on the tracks soon.
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In his address, Vaishnaw praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that he (Nitish Kumar) had done a lot of commendable work for the railways during his stint as the railway minister. He also praised good governance in Bihar and said that the state is getting the benefit of rapid development due to the double engine government.
