Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway threw open a new railway station on the city outskirts on Saturday.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the station, located 13km from the main station between Barang and Mancheswar, via videoconferencing. It will lessen the burden on the main railway station at Master Canteen Square. Only three passenger trains will stop here, which has four functional platforms at present.
Once fully completed, the new station will get seven platforms and three foot overbridges, along with other amenities. Railway officials plan to re-route all the south-bound trains from the new station at later stages based on feasibility.
The trains, which have been earmarked for the new station are the Howrah-Puri-Santragachi, Rourkela-Puri-Rourkela and the Cuttack-Berhampur-Cuttack Memu.
It will be done on an experimental basis for six months, following which decisions will be taken for operation of other trains, sources said.
The new station facility will especially be of benefit to people from Patia, Kalarahanga, Chandrasekharpur, Niladri Vihar, Sailashree Vihar, Infocity, Raghunathpur, Barang, Nandankanan and Mancheswar.
The new station had been mooted in 2013, and the work started in late 2014. It has all basic amenities and facilities for passengers.
"Bhubaneswar, despite being the state capital, doesn't have a proper railway station. The main station is very small with only six platforms," said Patia resident Nitu Maharana.
"There are other stations, but major trains never stop there. I hope the new station will help people," Maharana said.
A new foot overbridge to connect the first platform with the sixth one was thrown open at the main station on Saturday.
Besides, a smartphone application has been launched to provide information about the rath yatra in Puri.
However, the BJD boycotted the inauguration ceremony held at the main station.
"There should not be any politics in such development works. Ask them who have deliberately boycotted the function," said Pradhan.
Countering the allegations made by Pradhan, state tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda said: "If they are talking about development, why are they backing out on signing the agreement for execution of the railway station multi-modal hub at Master Canteen Square? It is a much needed facility and they should realise it."
