Bhubaneswar: The Railways has carried out safety checks of a vital line that will ease congestion and a stretch of a politically-crucial project, which will link the economically-backward districts in western Odisha with the state capital.
Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Eastern Circle, Suvomoy Mitra inspected the safety-related works thoroughly of the 13.05-km rail line between Mahipur and Nuagaon stations of the Khurda Road-Bolangir project Wednesday, a release stated.
Thursday, Mitra took stock of the 3.1-km-long track between Haripur Gram and Argul stations in the Howrah-Chennai mainline that bypasses Khurda Road, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) said.
Trial runs of light engines to measure the feasibility of the lines for traffic have been successful in both the railway sections of the Khurda Road Division, according to the ECoR.
The construction of these much-awaited important sections has been completed and will be commissioned after clearance from the CRS, it added.
This Khurda-Bolangir project will “connect eastern and western Odisha through remote and underdeveloped tribal areas”, it said.
The line will connect the towns of Nayagarh, Phulbani, Boudh, Subarnapur and Bolangir with Bhubaneswar via Khurda Road.
The journey time will be less as smaller towns like Begunia, Rajsunakhala, Bolagarh and Dasapalla will be connected with Bhubaneswar and Bolangir.
In the first phase, a 36-km stretch was opened between Khurda Road and Begunia in 2016. By mid-2017, the line was completed up to Nayagarh town, 65 km from Khurda Road.
To speed up the work, construction in this project was made from both sides and a stretch of about 15 km from Bolangir to Bichhupalli opened in January 2019.
The project is being constructed from Dasapalla to Bolangir on a cost-sharing basis with the state government.
The bypass rail line project will lead to reduction in train timings from about 30 minutes in the Puri-Chennai route as there will be hassle-free train operations.
Trains to and from Puri towards the south directions get delayed at Khurda Road due to engine reversal, which blocks many lines and causes delay of other trains.
The project will decrease congestion in the routes between Khurda Road and Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh.
It will result in efficient running of trains and rise in capacity.
PTI