Friday, 24 September 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The General Manager (GM) of the Northern Railway Ashutosh Gangal visited Dehradun to strengthen the mutual coordination between Railways and the state government. On his arrival on Thursday morning, Gangal along with the senior officials of the northern railway Moradabad division inspected Dehradun – Motichur rail section whose electrification was done recently and also discussed ongoing development works in Raiwala and Doiwala railway stations. Subsequently, he inspected the recently constructed platforms at Dehradun station too. During an interaction with media persons, the GM was asked about the operation of the Tejas Express train between Delhi and Dehradun to which he responded by saying that currently, there is not enough footfall to start a new train on the said routes. However, he added that new trains will be introduced as per the requirement in the future. He also said that the operation of all the trains which were running before the Covid-19 pandemic will be commenced soon . On the question of starting the operation of trains of 24 coaches from Dehradun railway station, Gangal said that as per the internal studies, there is not enough space in Dehradun for the convenient movement of such trains but the officials are still trying to work on the issue to make it possible. He also informed that the work of the Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line will possibly be finished by December 2024 but it is not certain as about 90 per cent is the tunnel work.
Gangal also said that there are always some coordination issues between Railways and the state government considering which, he met the chief secretary (CS) of Uttarakhand Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. Both the officials discussed various ongoing railway projects during the meeting. Sandhu also asked Gangal to complete the railway projects on time while assuring him of providing all the required cooperation of the state government for the timely completion of projects. Subsequently, the GM also met chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who appreciated the work of the Railways in the state.
