Bhubaneswar: The Railway authorities extended the Gorakhpur-Hatia Maurya Express train upto Sambalpur in Odisha.

The train originating from Hatia will have stoppages at Rourkela, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur railway stations in Odisha

As per the tentative train schedule, 15028 Gorakhpur-Hatia Maurya Express will arrive at 1.50 pm at Sambalpur Railway Station. The train number 15027 Hatia-Gorakhpur Maurya Express will depart the Sambalpur Railway Station at 9.35 am.

With the extension of Gorakhpur-Hatia Express train, the passengers of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh districts will be benefited, said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Earlier, Pradhan had requested the Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw for the extension of train services to Odisha.

He had written two letters to his cabinet colleague on Dec 9, 2022, and on Jan 3, 2024 in this regard.

In both the letters, Pradhan made a request for extension of Hatia-Gorakhpur Maurya Express upto Sambalpur and introduction of a new train from Sambalpur to Gorakhpur via Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Tata.

He mentioned that abut 4 lakh people from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh lives in Western Odisha, out of which about 1.5 lakh people lives only in Sambalpur district and there is no direct train for them to go to their native place, due to which they have to face a lot of difficulties.

Following the repeated requests, the Ministry of Railways decided for extension of Hatia-Gorakhpur Express train upto Sambalpur.