Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday wrote to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal urging the latter to introduce two new trains between Berhampur and Surat in Gujarat.
In his letter to the Union Minister, Patnaik wrote, “I would like to draw your kind attention to a long standing and genuine demand of Odia people residing in Surat, Gujarat for a daily direct train between Surat and Berhampur, Odisha”.
A very large population of Odia workers are engaged in power loom, dyeing and printing, diamond cutting and other spheres of trades and commerce, in the Surat economic cluster, who need a daily train service between their place of work and place of origin, i.e. between Surat and Berhampur, he added
“At present there is not a single train service directly connecting Berhampur and Surat although more than 7 lakh people of south Odisha, especially from Ganjam district are residing there and have various travelling needs,” Patnaik said in the letter.
“Presently, only Puri-Ahmedabad Express, Puri-Okha Express and Puri-Gandhidham Express are providing connectivity between these two places. But as these trains are originating and terminating at further destinations, availability of accomodation at Surat and Berhampur is highly inadequate,” he said.
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