Railway Minister Goyal gives two Jan Shatabdi trains to Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Wednesday announced that two Jan Shatabdi on would be plying on Delhi and Kotdwar and Tanakpur in Uttarakhand to give seamless railway connectivity for thousands of passengers of the hill state.

Goyal made the announcements after BJP Rajya Sabha (Uttarakhand) MP Anil Baluni had raised the demand for two Jan Shatabdi from Delhi to boost railway connectivity from Delhi.

Baluni, also national spokesperson of the BJP, has been raising scores of issues related to bolstering of infrastructure, industry and health facilities in Uttarakhand.

Speaking with the Millennium Post, Baluni, said, "My senior leader and union minister Goyal ji has honoured the wishes of everyone in Uttarakhand. These two new trains would immensely help the tourism, industry and locals who would get Jan Shatabdi trains to commute from Delhi to two different cities: Kotdwar and Tanakpur," said Baluni.

At present the railway has Jan Shatabdi trains plying on two routes connecting Kathgodam and Dehradun from Delhi and the addition of two Shatabdi trains would boost tourism in both Garhwal and Kumaon region.

"Our state government is working tirelessly for the development of Uttarakhand and I can say this with full confidence that the quality and the massive scale of railway works taken up under Piyush Goyal ji is unprecedented," said Baluni.

In Uttarakhand, Kotdwar is considered the entry point for Garhwal region and the existing railway line has trains from Delhi. Similarly, Tanakpur is a strategic point in Kumaon region. A Pauri based social activist, Udit Ghildyal, said, "Thousands of locals going to their native place in Pauri Garhwal region would not need to wait for Delhi-Dehradun Jan Shatabdi train and would directly reach Kotdwar which is just 50 km away from Pauri Garhwal by road."