Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the redeveloped Ayodhya Dham Railway Station and the newly built Maharishi Valmiki International Airport during a visit to the temple town. His visit also saw slew of new projects that included eight new trains plying to and from the Ayodhya station.
These projects are expected to cost £1.57 billion, with the Centre aiming at easing devotees' path to the Ram Mandir, set to be opened in January 2024. Included in these is a new category of superfast trains - the Amrit Bharat - that will ply between Darbhanga and Delhi's Anand Vihar Terminal, and between Malda and Bengaluru's Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminus.
The prime minister also flagged off six Vande Bharat trains, which would transport pilgrims from all over the nation to Ayodhya. The three-story train station building has contemporary amenities like escalators, elevators, food courts, stores for puja supplies, changing facilities for small children, and waiting areas.
The Prime Minister also dedicated three railway projects worth £230 million, which include the Rooma Chakeri-Chanderi third line project, Jaunpur-Tulsi Nagar, Akbarpur-Ayodhya, Sohawal-Patranga, and Safdarganj-Rasauli sections of the Jaunpur-Ayodhya-Barabanki doubling project, as well as the doubling and electrification project of the Malhaur-Daliganj railway section.
Projects worth about £1.11 billion were kicked off for the development of Ayodhya and its surrounding areas, while projects worth about £460 million were inaugurated related to other regions across Uttar Pradesh.
The Prime Minister also unveiled the first phase of the new airport, which is reported to have cost £145 million. The airport's 6,500 square metre terminal building can accommodate roughly 10,00,000 people a year. An official government statement states that the airport can accommodate A321-type aircraft operations due to its 2200-meter runway.