City gets four express trains, one MEMU

VARANASI: Union Minister of Railways D V Sadananda Gowda gifted four express trains and a MEMU to the people of Varanasi in the railway budget (2014-15) on Tuesday. People's expectation of some high-speed trains in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, however, were left unfilled. Samajwadi Party workers, meanwhile, staged a demonstration accusing railway minister of ignoring Varanasi.
The proposed new express trains include Ahmedabad?Patna Express (weekly) via Varanasi, Chhapra Lucknow Express (tri- weekly) via Ballia, Ghazipur and Varanasi, Lokmanya Tilak (T) Azamgarh Express (weekly), and New Delhi Varanasi Express (daily). A MEMU train Chhapra-Manduadih (6 days a week) via Ballia has also been announced. Besides, an existing train 63237/63238Buxar?Mughalsarai MEMU has been extended to Varanasi.
The Indian Railways also plan to run a tourist train from Rameswaram covering religious and tourist places like Varanasi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ayodhya and Haridwar. Besides, a special train featuring life and work of Swami Vivekananda to inculcate good moral values and propagate the teachings of Swami Vivekananda is also being planned. Special Pilgrim Circuits like Devi Circuit, Jyotirling Circuit, Jain Circuit, Christian Circuit, Muslim/Sufi Circuit, Sikh Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Famous Temple Circuit have been identified. The minister proposed to introduce specially packaged trains for these circuits. The minister announced that the use of CCTVs at stations will be extended to monitor cleanliness activities. System of periodic third-party inspections will also be introduced. Further, Bio-toilets will be increased in sufficient number of trains in order to mitigate the problem of direct discharge of human waste on the tracks and platform aprons at stations.