Title - Badal demands Shatabdi to Bathinda

Chandigarh : Seeking the intervention of Union Railways Minister CP Joshi, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged him to immediately start a Shatabdi Express train on the Bathinda-Delhi route via Jakhal-Rohtak to facilitate the people of the Malwa belt.In a letter to Joshi, the Chief Minister apprised him of the commissioning of Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery in Bathinda, following which the city had emerged as a petrochemical hub. He said the establishment of a prestigious Central University and a hotel management institute had further necessitated the sanctioning of the train on the route. He said the people of the region, especially the residents of Bathinda, had been demanding this train since long.The Chief Minister also informed Joshi that as people from other states, especially those in the Army and Air Force, frequently visited Bathinda since an Air Force station and Army cantonment is located there, the train would enable them a hassle-free journey to the city.Badal pointed out that as several people from the area had to go Delhi for boarding international flights, the train, therefore, was all the more important for them.