Digvijaya writes to Goyal, requests stoppage of Mahakal Express at Sihor

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday wrote to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal requesting a stoppage of the recently launched Kashi Mahakal Express in Sihor, which is 41 km from Bhopal.

The train which connects the three Jyotirlinga - Omkareshwar (near Indore, MP), Mahakaleshwar (Ujjain, MP) and Kashi Vishwanath (Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh), besides connecting the industrial and educational hub of Indore and Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal, began its first commercial run on Thursday.

"Sihor town is one of the most significant towns in Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency. People from Sihor and surrounding areas visit Kashi and Ujjain to pay obeisance to Kashi Vishwanath and Mahakal," Singh wrote in his letter.

"With no stoppage at Sihor people will be compelled to travel to Bhopal. I request you to issue relevant instructions to make Sihor a stoppage for the Kashi Mahakal Express," said Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP.

The Kashi Mahakal Express train will operate thrice a week between Varanasi and Indore, once via Prayagraj (Allahabad) and twice via Lucknow. The route of the train will be via Sultanpur - Lucknow or Prayagraj - Kanpur - Jhansi - Bina - Sant Hiradnagar - Ujjain - Indore and back.

The train will cover a total distance of 1131 km between Varanasi and Indore via Lucknow and a distance of 1102 km between Varanasi and Indore via Prayagraj (Allahabad) in approximately 19 hours.