Railways extends Gorakhpur-Pilibhit Express to Izzatnagar in UP

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Gorakhpur-Pilibhit Express, now extended up to Izzatnagar, was virtually flagged off from Puranpur in Uttar Pradesh by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada on Thursday, for its inaugural run to its new destination.
    The train earlier operated between Lakhimpur and Gorakhpur, and a few months ago, its service was extended up to Pilibhit. It has now been further extended to Izzatnagar (Bareilly) in response to passengers' demand, as it will improve mobility in the region.
    Vaishnaw highlighted the railway developments achieved over the past 11 years of the Modi government, stating that due to the Railways' focused approach, 48 pending projects in Uttar Pradesh have been completed so far, in addition to several new works.
    He added that Rs 19,858 crore have been allocated to the state in the railway budget, which is 18 times higher than the allocation before 2014.
    Under the Amrit Bharat Station Redevelopment Scheme, 157 stations are currently being redeveloped, while work on 10 stations has already been completed and recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi, Vaishnaw said.
    He further outlined that 5,272 new tracks have been laid, including new lines, gauge conversion, doubling, and tripling.
    The minister emphasised that 34 Vande Bharat and 26 Amrit Bharat trains are now connecting Uttar Pradesh to different parts of the country.
    Prasada, who is also the MP from Pilibhit, said the extension of the Gorakhpur-Pilibhit Express to Izzatnagar will benefit students, farmers, tourists, and other passengers by facilitating more convenient travel.
    During the event, Babu Ram Paswan, MLA from Puranpur constituency, who joined via video conferencing, demanded the launch of a Lakhimpur-Bareilly passenger train, Lucknow-Amritsar Express train and an Ayodhya-Mumbai Vande Bharat train via his constituency.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)