Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express showcasing Odisha’s heritage and culture on the exteriors of the train was flagged off here, Thursday.
The coaches were draped with vinyl wrapping sheets with high-quality art related prints of the dance forms, archaeological monuments and flora and fauna of the state.
Earlier, an agreement was signed between the East-Coast Railway (ECoR) and Navratna Nalco for decoration of the Rajdhani Express.
The designs, placed between the glass windows of the coaches on the exterior side, are likely to promote tourism potential of the state along with its traditional art.
While each rake consists of about 15 coaches, Nalco will pay Rs 1 crore for each rake as advertisement revenue to the ECoR. The company’s designs and logos also feature on the coaches.
Unreserved tickets in Odia script in addition to English and Hindi were also launched on this occasion.
Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha MP Aparajita Sarangi and Rajya Sabha MP Raghunath Mohapatra were present at the function.
General Manager, East Coast Railway, Vidya Bhushan, welcomed the guests – DRM, Khurda Road, Sashikant Singh and Nalco CMD Sridhar Patra, along with other senior officers of ECoR were also present on the occasion.
The introduction of unreserved tickets in Odia in addition to English and Hindi will be helpful to many people from Odisha who are not comfortable with reading English and Hindi languages on train tickets.