Shimla, Aug 7 - Cutting across party lines, members of the Himachal Pradesh assembly Thursday decried the 'discriminatory approach' of the central government to expansion of railway network in the hill state.

Replying to the issue Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Roop Singh Thakur raised during question hour, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said that only 33 km of railway track was added in the state since Independence.

Criticising the central government, Dhumal said: 'Railway ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government, including present incumbent Mamta Banerjee, are concentrating only on their constituencies.'

Despite repeated requests to the prime minister, the railways minister and the defence minister for the construction of the strategically important Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line, it is yet to get a green signal from the central government, he added.

The chief minister also regretted slow progress of the Nangal-Talwara and Chandigarh-Baddi railway lines.

Congress legislator Kaul Singh Thakur also criticised the neglect of railway network in the state.