Survey for Bijnor-Meerut railway track soon: minister

Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced a survey for laying a 63.5-km long railway track between Bijnor and Meerut, a project which will boost the local economy and bring the two cities in Uttar Pradesh closer by cutting short the travel time. We have decided to connect Bijnor with Meerut city. Earlier, a survey was conducted for the railway track from Meerut to Hastinapur. Bijnor is a place of the Mahabharata era. Now we are mulling to conduct a survey from Meerut to Bijnor via Hastinapur, Vaishnaw said. Currently, there is no railway line between the two cities and buses take more than two hours to cover the 80-km road distance. According to officials, a railway line was surveyed in 1995 too. Now, a survey will be conducted again. Officials will collect data and design a map of the track and both the survey report and the map will be produced before the railway board for further action. The minister said that the railway department has been instructed to prepare a project for the modernisation of Bijnor railway station. Meanwhile, locals have also demanded for a train passing through Bijnor to Mumbai. See also: Railway Board rejects DPR for Delhi-Varanasi bullet train projectNorth Central Railway invites bids for work in Bihar