Vadodara: Vadodara MP Hemang Joshi has urged Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to approve a series of railway and urban infrastructure projects, including direct train connectivity to Udaipur and Haridwar, a multimodal transport hub at Vadodara railway station and a bridge over the Alkapuri underpass.In separate representations to the minister, Joshi sought a daily superfast train between Vadodara and Udaipur, reducing the journey time to less than six hours from the current 10 hours on the lone weekly service.As an immediate measure, he proposed extending the Udaipur-Asarva Vande Bharat Express to Vadodara by utilising the train’s idle time at Ahmedabad. He said the extension would also benefit passengers from Bharuch, Anand, Kheda, Dahod, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur and Narmada, while helping ease the passenger load at Ahmedabad.For pilgrims travelling to Haridwar, Joshi sought a dedicated daily superfast train from Vadodara with a journey time of less than 20 hours, compared with more than 25 hours on the existing daily service. He also demanded mandatory commercial halts at Vadodara junction for all north-bound trains travelling towards Haridwar, Dehradun and Rishikesh.Joshi further proposed the development of a multimodal transport hub by integrating Vadodara railway station with the adjoining Central bus depot, enabling seamless transfers between rail and bus services.
