Question : TRAINS FROM CHHATTISGARH

(a) whether the capitals of several States of the country especially State of Chhattisgarh are still not connected with the premier trains such as Duronto, Shatabdi, Yuva, and Jan Shatabdi trains on major railway routes;

(b) if so, the reasons for neglecting the capital of Chhattisgarh State and whether the Railways propose to connect capitals of all the States with premier railway trains service;

(c) if so, the details thereof and whether the Railways have fixed any time-frame for this during the current financial year;

(d) if so, the details thereof and whether there is any proposal to extend Sarnath Express from Durg to Gondiya; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS n(SHRI ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY)

(a) 12069/12070 Raigarh-Gondia Jan Shatabdi Express is connecting Raigarh, Bilaspur, Durg and Gondia from capital of Chhattisgarh i.e. Raipur. At present, there is no Duronto, Shatabdi, Yuva trains serving Raipur.

(b) & (c) Introduction of new train services including Duranto, Shatabdi, Yuva and Jan Shatabdi to connect various parts of the country, is an ongoing process on Indian Railways, subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc. Besides, the following trains have been announced in 2013-14, which will provide connectivity to Raipur:

(i)	Durg	- Jaipur Express (Weekly) 

(ii)	Puri	–	Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (Weekly)

(iii)	Puri	-	Ajmer Express (Bi-weekly)

(iv)	Visakhapatnam	–	Bhagat Ki Kothi (Jodhpur) Express (Weekly)

(v)	Bilaspur	–	Bhagat Ki Kothi (Jodhpur) Express (Bi-weekly)

(vi)	Bilaspur	–	Bikaner Express (Bi-weekly)

(vii)	Raipur (Durg)	–	Jammu Tawi Express (Weekly)

(viii)	Durg	-	Chhapra Express (Daily)