Rail budget disappoints Naveen

The Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik termed the interim Railway budget presented in the Parliament today by Union Railway minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav as ‘disappointing’ as it has overlooked the interests of the state.

Patnaik said, only one express train is proposed to be introduced and frequency of only two trains have been increased. However, no new train originating from Orissa has been extended. Stating that Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram express train which was announced in 2007-08 railway budget, is yet to be introduced, the chief minister said, six routes in the country have been identifies for undertaking pre-feasibility study for introduction of bullet trains.

Since none of these routes touches Orissa, Bhubaneswar-Howrah route should be considered for introduction of bullet train services. He said, the ministry of railways was requested to allot Rs 1520 crore for execution of various on-going projects in the state.