Balasore: The dream of having passenger train services to Nilagiri in Balasore, a long-standing demand of the locals, would be realized soon. The Railways has finally decided to act in this matter, a report said Friday.
According to the report, Balsore MP and MLAs held a high- level meeting with the general manager of South Eastern Railways SN Agrawal and other railways officials at Garden Reach in Kolkata the other day. The MP, Rabindra Jena, said a decision was taken at the meeting to make a provision for passenger train services to the proposed rail corridor, connecting Digha, Chandaneswar, Balipal, Basta, Rupsa, Baripada, Bangiriposi, Badampahad, d Tatanagar and Nilagiri. Besides, the meeting also deliberated on ways to develop the infrastructure at different places.
At the meeting, Jaleswar MLA Aswini Patra, Soro MLA Parsuram Dhada, Nilagiri MLA Sukant Nayak, Badasahi MLA Ganeswar Patra and Kharagpur DRM RK mangal were present.
The MP observed that the proposed rail corridor will play an important role in the economic development of the region and improve transport and communication facilities in north Orissa, apart from helping boost the tourism sector. The project had been approved by the Railway Board, but no follow up action came so far.
During the meeting, Agrawal advised officials to start a survey work. The officials also agreed to start a survey for proposed passenger train services to tribal-dominated Nilagiri.
It was learnt that during the discussion, the demand for underground road at Paschimabada under Jaleswar block was taken up too.
The Railway officials also responded positively to several pleas like extension of the Bhadrak passenger trains service upto Balasore and running of the Kharagpur-Khurda passenger train via Cuttack(instead of Naraj).
The Railway authorities had also agreed to attach an AC coach with the Bangiriposi-Bhubaneswar passengers train and add more coaches to the Dhauli Express for Balasore passengers.
Railways officials said they would look into the demand for halts of any two north and south-bound express trains at Balasore, Jaleswar, Basta and Rupsa stations.
There was also a discussion on two overbridges (ROBs) at Jaleswar and one at Shobrampur in Balasore. PNN
