Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday sought expansion of railway network in the state from Union Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnav and also urged him to speed up work on Bhanupali-Leh rail line.

He raised the demand during a meeting Ashwini Vaishnav at New Delhi today in which Union Minister for Sports, Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur was also present.

Thakur stated that the state government has made efforts to give pace to the work on Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line so that it could be completed soon.

He requested the Union Minister to hasten up the work on this railway line and added that extension of this line up to Leh is very important from strategic point of view. He apprised that the full-length survey on the line is over and urged for taking further action in this matter.

Jai Ram also requested for starting work immediately on Baddi-Chandigarh railway line as land acquisition work on the side of Himachal Pradesh has been done.

“This would be helpful in connecting with the Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor and boost industrial activities in the industrial belt of the state,” the CM said while urging for starting the work from Baddi side as all formalities have been completed.

He also requested for conducting a survey on Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib railway line which would help in connecting Kala Amb industrial area to Baddi-Amritsar-Kolkata corridor.

He requested the Railways Minister for upgrading the Kalka-Shimla railway track as the speed of the train is very slow and stated that new coaches should be added to the train as present ones are very old.

He suggested introducing state of art trains on the Kalka-Shimla route to boost tourism and showcasing heritage of the State to attract more tourists.

He also discussed Joginder Nagar and Una-Hamirpur railway lines.

The Union Railways Minister assured the Chief Minister of enhancing funds for Bhanupali-Bilaspur railway line for its speedy completion. He also asked to send a proposal for introducing the State-of-Art Train in PPP mode.

Vaishnav said that possibilities would be explored to fulfil the demands of the State. He also informed that the Ministry would soon send a proposal on Una-Hamirpur railway line to the State.

Anurag Thakur also gave his valuable inputs in the meeting and urged for early action on the Una-Hamirpur railway line.

Thakur also called on Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at New Delhi today and urged him for sanctioning 50 ambulances to reduce the response time within prescribed limits in hilly terrain.

He also apprised the Union Minister about shortage of ASHA workers in the State and requested for 58 ASHA workers under NUHM and 176 in non-NUHM component for quality outreach in comprehensive primary health care in urban areas of state.

Jai Ram Thakur requested for granting Bulk Drug Park for the State which would strengthen the industrialization in the state.

Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh and Principal Resident Commissioner Sushil Kumar Singla were also present in the meeting.