Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) Saturday appealed to people to enable trial run of goods trains on the new Haridaspur-Paradip line in Odisha as it will make the tracks fit for operating passenger trains on the route in the near future.
The appeal by ECoR comes a day after the trial run of a goods train was halted at Nuagaon in Kendrapara district as local people blocked the tracks for around two hours demanding immediate start of passenger train services on the route.
The 82 kilometre-long railway line connects the mineral belt of the state with the port town of Paradip.
Work on the much-awaited Haridaspur-Paradip line, which also brings Kendrapara district on the railway map, is almost complete and trial run of goods trains started July 31, the ECoR said in a statement.
“Trial run of goods trains is a pre-step to culminate in running of passenger trains till the essential safety works are completed and passenger facilities are created,” it said.
Obstructing trial runs of goods train as happened Friday will push the whole process of making this line fit for passenger trains farther into the future, the statement said.
“ECoR, therefore, appeals to you to enable these goods train trial runs so that the line can be made fit for running passenger trains in the near future,” it added.
Paradip-Haridaspur railway line project was sanctioned in 1996 and its foundation stone was laid in 1999. However, the completion of the project was delayed by almost two decades.
(PTI)