Railway minister virtually flags off new Gwalior-Bengaluru weekly express train

New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday flagged off a new weekly express train from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to Bengaluru in Karnataka through video conferencing from here.

According to the railway ministry, the train would depart at 3 pm every Friday and reach the capital of Bengaluru at 7.35 am on Sunday. On the way back, it would depart from Bengaluru at 3.50 pm every Sunday and reach Gwalior at 10.25 am on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, the weekly train will have a total of 22 coaches.

Vaishnaw, while virtually addressing the people of Madhya Pradesh, said that till a decade ago, the state used to get a railway budget of around Rs 600 crore, but that has been enhanced to Rs 14,745 crore.

"Madhya Pradesh has achieved 100 per cent rail electrification. In the last 11 years, 2,651 km of new rail tracks have been laid in the state, which is more than the total rail network of a country like Denmark," Vaishnaw said.

Addressing the ongoing station redevelopment scheme, he said 80 railway stations in the state are at various stages of redevelopment, and special architectural focus has been laid on Gwalior station.

According to the railway minister, efforts are being made to start a new passenger train service between Gwalior and Agra.

"Many important rail projects have been approved in Madhya Pradesh. These include Manmad-Indore new rail line at a cost of Rs 18,036 crore, Bhusaval-Khandwa third and fourth line at a cost of Rs 3,514 crore, Manikpur-Prayagraj third line at Rs 1,640 crore and Ratlam-Nagda third and fourth line at a cost of Rs 1,018 crore," Vaishnaw said.

He added, “In the last one year, rail projects worth Rs 24,000 crore have been approved in the state, which will completely change the rail map of Madhya Pradesh." Referring to the preparations for Simhastha Kumbh, Vaishnaw said the master plan for the redevelopment of the Ujjain station is ready, and work will begin after the mega event so that passengers do not face any inconvenience. PTI JP RHL