Former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice-President Dr Raman Singh sent a letter to the Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnav to demand new trains from Rewa-MP to Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg-Chhattisgarh to Nagpur-Maharashtra and Durg. In his letter, Dr Raman Singh stated that he had proposed to extend the route of daily passenger train no. 18247/18248 Rewa-Bilaspur up to Durg in Chhattisgarh. However, the proposal was turned down due to infrastructural and other reasons, as conveyed in a letter dated February 7, 2022, to the Members of Parliament of MP and Chhattisgarh. Nevertheless, the letter did mention considering an extension in the future.

Dr Raman Singh highlighted that a large number of government employees from undivided MP districts of Rewa, Sidhi, Satna, Shahdol, Singrauli, Umariya, and Anuppur used to work in Raipur, Durg, and Bastar Divisions. Even today, residents of both states visit each other for various purposes such as relations, commercial, tourism, religion, and medical reasons. The demand for new trains comes as a relief for the people of both states who have been experiencing difficulty traveling to and from these destinations. The proposed extension of train services is expected to make travel more convenient for the people, especially those traveling for work and medical reasons.