Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Monday met Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and requested him to include the Tanakpur-Bageshwar rail line project in the current fiscal year 2019-20 to speed up the process of social and economic development of this region.
The Chief Minister informed that at present the rail line is established till Tanakpur. The movement in other districts of Kumaun Mandal, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar is difficult because of the mountainous terrain. The Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway project, he said, is extremely important for speeding up the process of social and economic development of this region as well as to develop the tourist spots.
He further said that "the state's borders are also linked to Nepal and China hence the places are also of strategic importance."
The CM also informed the Union Railway Minister that there is currently no direct rail service in the morning and afternoon between the Dehradun and Kumaun area, whose final railway station is Kathgodam.
"There are a large number of travellers who have to wait until evening due to lack of any train in the morning. Therefore, in the interest of the public, the services of a Shatabdi or Jan Shatabdi train should start immediately from morning 5 to 6 from Dehradun to Haldw / Kathgodam," Rawat said.
The Chief Minister said that the number of trains between Delhi and Haldw at present is quite less and unable to serve the large number of passengers travelling on the route. Therefore, the service of a special train between Delhi and Haldw should also be started.
Talking about Roorkee-Deoband project in the year 2018, Rawat said the cost of the project was Rs 791.39 crores. Urging the Centre to fund the remnants of the project, Rawat said: "The cost was agreed on the 50-50 contribution between the Ministry of Railways and the State of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand state has already contributed 240 crores to the project."
The total length of the Roorkee-Deoband project is 27.45 km. Under this, about 94 hectares of Uttar Pradesh and about 70 hectares of Uttarakhand are coming. At present, it is necessary to travel longer distance between Deoband (Saharanpur) and Roorkee (Haridwar) by rail.
"The construction of the proposed Roorkee-Deoband rail line will save the time of travellers and the traffic will be accessible," said the Chief Minister.
( With inputs from ANI )