Eleven new trains, two divisions gifted to Bihar

Statesman News Service NEW DELHI, Feb. 13: Geared up for the Lok Sabha polls and seeking to prick Nitish Kumar’s good governance balloon, the railway minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, today announced 11 new trains for Bihar and two divisions ~ one not far from his birthplace, Phulwaria. The new trains include new Garib Rath Express, Ajmer-Bhagalpur (bi-weekly), Jammu-Tawi-Darbhanga and Sitamarhi-Delhi (weekly). Barauni-Delhi Jansadharan Express (bi-weekly), Saharsa-Delhi Express via Patna (weekly), Ranchi-Patna Jansahatabdi Express, New Delhi-Guwahati Rajdhani Express via Bhagalpur, Howrah-Delhi link service via Bhagalpur, Jamalpur-Gaya Passenger, Jhajaha-Patna would also be introduced. To facilitate improved operations, he said two new railway divisions would come up at Bhagalpur and Thawe to ease congestion in local MEMU trains running in Gaya-Patna-Buxar-Mughalsarai, and 16 new coaches for 18 MEMU services would be provided. The budget also recommended a pre-feasibility study to run the Delhi-Patna Bullet train. Mr Prasad said construction of the Rail Wheel Factory in Chhapra is in full swing, and work on locomotive factories at Marhoura and Madhepura would begin soon. The ailing Bharat Wagon Limited at Mokama and Muzaffarpur have been transferred to the railways. Denying that these sops had been prepared with an eye on elections, Mr Prasad told reporters later: “I don’t want to take any kalank (disgrace) that I have overdone it”. It’s not the first time that Mr Prasad has offered a bonanza for his home state. Several projects and dozens of trains were offered to Bihar during the last five years. In fact for the last 16 years, the state has been reaping the benefits of sending railway ministers uninterrupted since 1996 ~ with Mr Ram Vilas Paswan during UF regime followed by Mr Nitish Kumar in Vajpayee government for most of the period barring a short spell when Miss Mamata Banerjee was the minister. The Railways are already investing a whopping Rs 55,000 crore in Bihar for execution of various railway projects.