Jharkhand, June 25: The first passenger train on the the newly constructed Koderma-Nawadih -Giridih railway line was today flagged off by JVM(P) chief Babulal Marandi.
With the flagging off, Koderma Station also received the status of a junction on the Grand Chord section of the East Central Railway under the Dhanbad Division.
The train with five bogies hauled by a diesel engine would make two trips every day except Sunday with a nominal fare of Rs 10.
The 111 km Koderma-Giridih line costing Rs 371 .36 crore was sanctioned and was to be commissioned by 2005-6, but was hit by a fund problem.
The work started again when the then state government under Marandi state agreed to meet 50 per cent of the total cost of the project.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Marandi told reporters that said that the train services would play a significant role for the development of the region which could not be exploited earlier and also create new avenues for employment.
