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CM demands more rly projects for NE

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Feb 13 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has requested Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee for inclusion of a slew of projects in the Railway Budget for the year 2011-12.

In a letter to the Railway Minister, Gogoi requested Banerjee for new lines for strengthening the Railway infrastructure in the Northeast and Assam, which include a new railway line from Salona to Khumtai and Jorhat to Sivasagar for creating the transport corridors along the bank of the Brahmaputra, hitherto not covered by railway service so far; completion of the 6 kilometer Tirap-Lekhapani railway line for efficient and economical functioning of the Lekhapani coal mines to feed the upcoming 750 MW Bongaingaon Thermal Power Station (BTPS) of NTPC at Salakati in Kokrajhar district; double tracking of the railway line stretch between new Bongaigaon and Kamakhya via Goalpara to decongest the present railway line as an extension to the double tracking of the railway line stretch between New Jalpaiguri and Samuktala via Coochbehar; a new railway line from Silghat to Tezpur with a railway bridge for strategic reason; gauge conversion of the only meter gauge stretch between Badaigram and Durlabcherra.

Gogoi requested Banerjee to declare those infrastructures as �national projects� for ensuring smooth fund flow, an official statement mentioned.

The Chief Minister also pleaded with the Railway Minister for decongestion of goods terminal at New Guwahati by expanding the freight terminal at Azara and opening up of a new terminal at Amingaon for attracting more volume of good traffic to the Changsari goods terminal.

Gogoi further requested Banerjee to introduce a new daily express train (Duranta) to Kolkata; very fast daily express trains with limited stops from Dibrugarh-Guwahati to Mumbai-Pune in the West; Vellore-Chennai; Bangalore; Trivandram-Kochi in the South and Amritsar Jammu in the North.

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