Title - SriGanganagar-Suratgarh passenger train flagged off

Union Minister of state for Railways K H Muniyappa and Rajasthan Chief Minister today flagged off the SriGanganagar-Suratgarh passenger train at SriGanganagar railway station in the state.

Gauge conversion in the SriGanganagar-Saroopsar rail section was completed and the running of the train today marked the inauguration of the new track also.

Muniyappa said that Rajasthan with 5683 km of rail network has an important place in the Indian railways and was moving ahead with several projects.

He said that the gauge conversion of SriGanganagar- Saroopsar section (116 km) was sanctioned in 1997-98 and completed in 2011-12 at a cost of Rs 279.59 core. The minister said that the North Western Railways (NWR) is an important part of the railways which gets priorities for projects and trains.

"The NWR got 19 new trains, expansion of eight trains in the rail budget of 2012-13. In the rail budget 2011-12, the NWR got 15 new trains and 13 out of them have been started", he said.

The minister also highlighted that the highest increase in the number of passengers in Indian railways was recorded in the NWR during 2011-12.