Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced a 32-kilometre-long new rail line project connecting Puri and Konark with trains having Vistadome coaches.
Vaishnaw made this announcement immediately after he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha with support of BJD.
While supporting his candidature, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on February 15 had said "BJD supported Vaishnaw for the larger interest of the state's railways and telecom development.'
"It was a long-standing demand of the Odisha people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Tuesday sanctioned the Rs 492 crore new railway line between Puri and Konark with a view to creating a spiritual, heritage & coastal corridor," Vaishnaw told a press conference in Bhubaneswar.
Vaishnaw also said that the project has been sanctioned and fund is available. Work for this project will start just after getting land for construction of the rail line.
Altogether, 217 acres of land is necessary for this project, he said. -- PTI