(a) whether the Railways propose to increase the number of trains and provide stoppages of trains particularly at Barmer and Jaisalmer stations in Western Rajasthan for facilitating the movement of troops deployed on borders;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is a proposal to extend the services of Mandor Express (Delhi-Jodhpur) and Suryanagari Express (Jodhpur-Bandra) upto Barmer; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reason therefor?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) & (b) Introduction of trains, serving various stations, is an on- going process on Indian Railways. In the Railway Budget 2014-15, extension of 15013/15014 Kathgodam-Bhagat Ki Kothi Express upto Jaisalmer has been announced. This is an addition to the services of 12371/12372 Howrah- Jaisalmer Express and 22931/22932 Bandra (T)-Jaisalmer Express provided for Jaisalmer during the last two years.
Similarly, with the extension of 14805/06 Yesvantpur-Ahmedabad AC Express upto Barmer w.e.f. 02.05.2014, Barmer has got direct connectivity inter-alia to Pune, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.
As regards stoppage of trains at Barmer and Jaisalmer, it is stated that Jaisalmer is a terminal station and as such all trains serving Jaisalmer have scheduled stoppage there at. Similarly, all trains, except 14889/14890 Bhagat Ki Kothi-Munabao Express, passing through Barmer have a scheduled stoppage at Barmer.
(c) & (d) No, Madam. At present, there is no proposal to extend 12461/12462 Delhi-Jodhpur Mandor Express and 12479/12480 Bandra-Jodhpur Surya Nagri Express upto Barmer owing to operational and resource constraints.