Bettiah: After a slew of gifts and bonanza during the centenary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Champaran notwithstanding, bounty from railways continues to rain on Champaran.

Indian Railways plans to set up a new railway station at Bahuhawa near Sagauli junction in East Champaran to do away with the need for locomotive change, otherwise imperative at Sagauli owing to its strategic location.

Confirming this, BJP leader and Bettiah MP Sanjay Jaiswal said Indian Railways has accepted the proposal in this regard. "The station will come to be known as Sagauli Nagar, located about 2km from Sagauli Junction. The most striking attribute of the proposed station lies in the fact that it won't require a change of locomotive for further journey," said Jaiswal.

"The railway ministry is all set to acquire land in Bahuhawa," he added.

Located on Muzaffarpur-Gorakhpur mainline, Sagauli Junction is a small railway station in East Champaran which is connected to several cities across the country with daily passenger and long-distance trains. However, over a dozen trains from Raxaul to different destinations such as Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Howrah via Motihari and vice-versa have to change their locomotives to carry forward the journey.

The public demand for the same was long-pending.

The development comes close on heels of a slew of gifts and bounty for Champaran doled out by the railways.

These include the introduction of two new trains - Humsafar Express between Katihar and Anand Vihar and Antyodaya Express between Jalandhar and Darbhanga - recently with stops at Bettiah and Motihari in Champaran, besides electrification of Motihari-Muzaffarpur route and remodelling of Motihari station.

The Centre has also approved the Muzaffarpur-Sagauli and Sagauli-Valmikinagar sections to cover districts of Muzaffarnagar, East Champaran and West Champaran.