Himachal CM seeks expansion of railway network, airport funding

Shimla: Ahead of the union budget , Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday met Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav at New Delhi and asked for expansion of the railway network in the state.

He drew the attention of the union minister towards pending railway projects and informed that the state government has made efforts to give pace to the work on Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line so that it could be completed soon. He requested the Union Minister to hasten up the work on this railway line and added that extension of this line up to Leh is very important from a strategic point of view.

Thakur also apprised that the full length survey on the line is over and urged for taking further action in this matter.

The Chief Minister also asked for starting work immediately on Baddi-Chandigarh railway line as land acquisition work on the side of Himachal Pradesh has been done. This would be helpful in connecting with the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor and boost industrial activities in the industrial belt of the state.

He urged for starting the work from Baddi side as all formalities have been completed. He also requested for conducting a survey on Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib railway line which would help in connecting Kala Amb industrial area to Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor. Thakur urged the Railways Minister for upgrading the Kalka-Shimla railway track as the speed of the train is very slow and added that new coaches should be added to the train as present ones are very old. He suggested introducing state of art trains on the Kalka-Shimla route to boost tourism and showcasing heritage of the State to attract more tourists.

He also discussed Joginder Nagar and Una-Hamirpur railway lines. The Union Railways Minister assured the Chief Minister of enhancing funds for Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line for its speedy completion. He asked to send a proposal for introducing the State of Art Train in PPP mode. Union minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur ,who was also present in the meeting, also backed the state government demand and urged for early action on the Una-Hamirpur railway line.

Later, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur called on Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister at New Delhi today.

He requested her to provide Special Central Assistance to the State for capital expenditure and urged to provide support for maintaining the ways and means position of the state.Chief Minister also requested Special Central Assistance for Mandi airport.