Khurda Road–Bolangir line

Khurda Road–Bolangir line
Overview
Type 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Status Under Construction
Locale Odisha
Termini Khurda Road
Balangir
Operation
Owner Indian Railway
Operator(s) East Coast Railway zone
Technical
Line length 65 KM completed
Track length 289 km (180 mi)[1]
Number of tracks 1
Track gauge 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)
Operating speed 110 km/h (68 mph)

The Khurda Road–Bolangir line is a rail line between Khurda Road Junction and Balangir which is under construction.

History

It was surveyed in 1945 but the project was sanctioned in 1994–95. The state government has signed Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Railways to undertake some parts of the project on cost sharing basis.

The project which was initially estimated to be ₹1,000 crore (US$160 million) is now estimated to be nearly ₹2,000 crore (US$310 million) after almost 20 years of delay due to low budgetary provisions and issues of land acquisition.

This rail line will link cities of Nayagarh, Boudh and Sonepur with Bhubaneswar and Bolangir. Smaller towns like Dasapalla, Banigochha and Mahipur will also be linked by this rail line. Work at Balangir side of this project has also started.

The Khurda Road – Bolangir rail line will connect Khurda Road railway station to Balangir railway station in a shorter way through Daspalla.[2]

A new 289 km long railway line from Balangir to Khurda Road junction was sanctioned in 1994 and its foundation stone was laid in June 2001 but there has been very little progress in construction of this railway line. Out of 289 km length, 22 km is in Balangir district. Even all the land required for the railway line has not been acquired until the end of 2011.

In 2015-16 Rail Budget, the rail line got a green single from Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu as Rs 4682 crore was allotted for Odisha As construction will be done in three phases, first between Khurda Road to Begunia a 36 km stretch then 76 km from Begunia to Daspalla and 177 km from Daspalla to Balangir under the review of Chef Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik.[3][4][5][6]

In July 2016, Railway minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Khordha Road-Begunia 36 km stretch and tracks are being laid from Begunia to Nayagarh which was completed by June 2017 and whole project to be completed in 2021.

This will connects Nayagarh, Boudh, Sonepur and Balangir which are economically backward district in the state.[7]

Current Status

The 41.5-km railway line between Khurda Road and Rajsunakhala has already been commissioned and two pairs of trains are running along the stretch.

On March 20, 2017, Mr Suresh Prabhu flag off the extension of Khurda Road-Rajsunakhala passenger train up to newly built Bolagarh Road station.

Nayagarh was put on the railway map of the country on 19 June 2017 when railway minister Suresh Prabhu formally dedicated the new line from Bolagarh Road to Nayagarh as part of the ongoing Khurda Road-Balangir project. Mr Suresh Prabhu commissioned the 12.8 km line formally by video link from New Delhi.

References

  1. ↑ "Length of the track". Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Article Published on The Hindu". Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Khurda Road-Balangir rail line work from Dec
  4. ↑ Odisha CM plea to Prabhu for MoUs on new rail lines
  5. ↑ Naveen Patnaik Reviews Khurda-Balangir Rail Project
  6. ↑ Odisha, Rlys in pact for Khurda Road-Bolangir rail link
  7. ↑ Train services to be extended to Bolagarh by June end
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