No new trains, but 15 premium ones to halt at Bhopal, Itarsi

BHOPAL: Amid no announcement of new trains in the railway budget, the region has something to cheer about as Bhopal division will have halts of 15 pairs of superfast and premium trains like Duronto, Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express in the coming months. Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu announced in rail budget that operational halts will be converted into commercial halts, thereby benefitting Bhopal and Itarsi station passengers.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, DRM Bhopal Alok Kumar said, "Previously, these 30 trains only had operational halts at Itarsi and Bhopal stations. But now, passengers can actually book their seats from these stations." Among the trains that will halt at Itarsi after this announcement are up and down Secunderabad Duronto, Chennai Duronto, Yeshvantpur Duronto, Allahabad-LTT Duronto, Patna-Bandra Weekly Express, Bangalore Cantt-Patna Premium Express etc. Similarly, up and down Nagpur-Indore Trishatabdi Express and Katra-Yeshvantpur Premium Express will halt at Bhopal station.
DRM Kumar also expressed hope that among the new Humsafar category trains announced in the budget, trains via Bhopal to Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru would figure in the routes that would be decided later. Humsafar would be fully air-conditioned third AC service with an optional service for meals. The division has also got 12 new road over bridges (RoBs) that will replace railway crossings. Of these, two are in Bhopal city - Barkhedi and Subhash Nagar while nearby RoBs that will be constructed are Obaidullahganj-Mandideep and Nishatpura-Sukhi Sewania. These will be constructed with 50:50 Central and state funds.
Itarsi station will have a second foot over bridge (FoB) with ramp facility at a cost of Rs 8.64 crore while four stations in the division will have additional cover sheds and circulating area at a cost of Rs 3.3 crore. "Itarsi-Khandwa section will be broken down into six sections at a cost of Rs 19.45 crore that will also benefit the efficiency of trains from third rail line between Bina and Itarsi. In the same sequence, 14 level crossing gates that were not linked between Bina and Itarsi have got interlocking sanction at a cost of Rs 13.7 crore. Bhopal too has got sanction for interlocking of five level crossing gates at Rs 4.2 crore. This will also increase security when three lines are constructed," the DRM added.