Railways sanction Rs 15 cr for Vadodara station's expansion

Vadodara, Nov 19 (UNI) The Railway Board has sanctioned Rs 15 crore for the expansion of the crowded Vadodara station, Minister of State for Railways Naran Rathwa announced, after inaugurating the newly constructed platform number 6 here today.

He said the station would have another platform and a building under the Rs 15 crore expansion project, to be completed by December, 2007. Effectively, it would have another entry from the western side.

The Minister also announced a reward of Rs three lakh to the Western Railway (WR) engineers and other staff for having completed construction of platform No 6, the Rs 2.8 crore project, in a record time.

Later talking to newsmen, Mr Rathwa said the railways would run two new trains from Valsad to Sonpur and Kanpur from December 2 next. Besides, two more trains -- Ahmedabad-Patna-Ajimabad and Bhuj-Bareli -- will be introduced by March, 2007, as promised earlier by Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, he added.

Referring to the proposed Rs 180 crore Chhotaudepur-Dhar railway line, he said the project, aimed at reaching the tribal hinterland in Madhya Pradesh, had received the Planning Commission's approval and funds would be made available for it in the next year's railway budget.

WR general manager V K Kaul, who was also present on the occasion, said the railway engineers were now working on a proposal to make the coaches virtually fire-proof, with suitable replacement of seats and other fire-prone materials.

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