Goyal hands over railway land to Bihar govt

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today formally handed over 71.25 acres of land of the Digha-Patna rail line to the Bihar government at a function here.

The Bihar Cabinet had on June 26 given its nod for transfer of the land to the state’s Road Construction Department on payment of Rs 222.19 crore for construction of a four-lane road in Patna.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a host of Union ministers, including R K Singh, Giriraj Singh, Ashwini Choubey and Ram Kripal Yadav, were present on the occasion.

Goyal also dedicated the Biraul-Harnagar new rail line and gauge conversion of the Raxaul-Narkatiyaganj line to the public, besides laying foundation stone for a rail line between Supaul and Araria and inaugurating expansion of passenger trains on the Sakri-Biraul section.

The minister completed the formalities through video-conferencing.

Meanwhile, Goyal announced that 50 per cent of 10,000 posts to be filled in the Railway Police Force (RPF), will be reserved for women.

CCTVs will be installed at 6,000 railway stations and in major trains, he said, adding that a mega rail bridge over the Kosi river will be completed in the next 10 months.

The foundation stone for the bridge was laid by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003.

Courtesy: PTI