New Delhi: Bhubaneswar Railway Station will be transformed into a world class multi-modal hub, informed Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Replying to a written question of Rajya Sabha member from Odisha, Amar Patnaik, the Union Minister said that the Ministry of Railways and State Government have jointly undertaken the redevelopment of Bhubaneswar Railway Station. It is planned to build a new rail line with new station buildings and platforms on the land of Railways and the Government of Odisha. In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and East Coast Railway (ECoR) on September 19, 2019. With a smart city environment, the BDA has appointed a consultant to prepare a plan to make the railway station a ‘multi-modal hub’, Goyal told in his reply.
Informing more about railway projects in Odisha, he said that the survey for the 33-km-long Puri-Konark new line has been completed in 2015-16. As the proposed rail line has passed through the Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary, a re-survey has been ordered to find a feasibility to carryout the project without causing any damage to the sanctuary.
Besides, the proposal for extending Nuapada-Gunupur rail line upto Therubali has been included in the Budget 2017-18. A ‘detailed project report’ of the project has been prepared. The State Government has been asked to bear 50% of the cost of construction and provide free land for the project. However, Odisha Government has agreed to allot only land for the project at free of cost. Therefore, the State has been requested to bear 50% construction expenses for the project, Goyal replied to a question on the steps taken by the Ministry to construct Gunupur-Therubali line.
Answering to a query about a proposed wagon factory at Sitalapalli, where land has already been earmarked, the Minister made it clear that there is no proposal to set up the railway wagon factory at Sitalapalli in Ganjam district.