Rlys begins Buxar-Varanasi train to ferry devotees

Owing to public demand in Buxar for a special train to ferry devotees to Varanasi for taking holy dips in the Ganges and paying their obeisance to Lord Vishwanath, the railways Wednesday began a MEMU train connecting the two cities.

The 16-coach Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) train will enable people from Buxar in Bihar to start their journey at 6:15 am and reach Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh by 9:45 am. It was flagged off by Minister of State of Railways Manoj Sinha via videoconferencing.

"People can start their journey at 6:15 am, reach by

10 am and then visit Lord Vishwananth for 'darshan', take a dip in the Ganges, and start their return journey by 6:45 pm and return to Buxar by 10 pm. The 16-coach MEMU has the capacity to carry 1,500 people," Sinha said.

 

Minister of State of Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey, who is an MP from Buxar, was also present on the occasion.

"Today it is a moment of joy for the people of Buxar as this direct train will be helpful for travelling to Kashi. It is important to mention that a lot of development works have been carried out in Buxar during this government's tenure. Four ROBs in Buxar have been sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways," he said.

Choubey also proposed that the MEMU should have a tableau of sage Vishwamitra and Lord Ram so that Buxar's association with the Hindu God could be promoted throughout the country.

"While Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram, Buxar was his 'karmabhumi'. It is here that he was trained," he said.

According to Hindu mythology, sage Vishwamitra, the family guru of Lord Rama, and 80,000 saints had their sacred ashram at the banks of holy river Ganges that reside inside the modern Buxar district, which is also the place where Rama killed demoness Tadika.

Sinha, however, did not commit to the request as he said the train will cross through several historically significant towns and painting it in a specific theme could cause heartburn for the others.

The train will stop at Chausa, Barakalan, Gahmar, Karahiya Halt, Bhadaura, Usiakhas Halt, Dildarnagar, Darauli, Zamania, Dheena, Sakaldiha, Kuchman, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Vyasnagar and Kashi.