Shah, who led a team of office bearers of the Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) here, met the Railway Minister this morning and submitted to him a memorandum, demanding introduction of a superfast train from Gandhidham to Delhi via Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Ajmer-Alwar to facilitate fast movement of passenger and goods traffic and establish a direct link of the arid Kutch region with the northern hinterland.

The Gujarat Speaker, who was accompanied by Hiralal Parikh, president of The Gandhidham CCI, impressed upon the Railway Minister that more than 2.5 lakh people from various northern states were engaged in salt and shipping industries in the region. Besides, Kandla Port was a major port in the vicinity of Gandhidham, handling a large traffic and earning ahuge revenue. Also, military and para-military forces were stationed in large numbers in the Kutch district, he added.

The Gujarat delegation also demanded conversion of the metre gauge railway line between Samakhiyali and Palanpur to broad gauge and introduction of a direct metre gauge train from Bhuj to Barmer in Rajasthan and an additional broad gauge train from Gandhidham to Mumbai.

The delegation explained that since the Western Railway authorities ran about 200 special trains during summer and winter seasons to clear heavy passenger rush, it was imperative to run a full-fledged second train from Gandhidham to Mumbai to ease heavy passenger traffic.