President lays stone for model railway station in hometown

Amravati (Maharashtra), Sep 7 : President Pratibha Patil Sunday laid the foundation stone for a model railway station here even as Railways Minister Lalu Prasad flagged off an Amravati-Mumbai super-fast train.

Lalu Prasad announced two more trains from the town - to Nagpur and Surat in Gujarat.

He also announced the decision to set up a divisional railway office in Amravati to be housed in the model railway station building. This will be the sixth divisional railway office in Maharashtra after the five in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Solapur and Bhusawal.

Kerala Governor R.S. Gavai, who belongs to Amravati, was present besides district guardian minister Sunil Deshmukh, Patil's husband Devisingh Shekhawat, Amravati MP Anant Geete and Railway Board chairman K.C. Jena.

The president later left for Nagpur by an Indian Air Force helicopter to return to Delhi.

While the Amravati-Mumbai train will leave the city at 5.25 p.m. every Sunday and Tuesday to reach the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai at 5.35 a.m. the next day, the Monday-to-Friday Amravati-Nagpur Intercity Express, slated to start Monday, will leave Amravati at 5.15 a.m. to reach its destination three hours and 20 minutes later.

The super-fast train will run between Mumbai and Amravati on Saturdays and Mondays (8.05 p.m. - 8.15 a.m.) while the Intercity will leave Nagpur at 5.25 p.m. on the first five days of the week.

The schedule for Amravati-Surat train is yet to be announced.

--IANS