___________

Various KBK statistics are known to everyone here as well as to the planning commission. We will not rehash them here. We will just like to point out that various programs in KBK (such as RLTAP) will not work to their potential unless qualified people are willing to be there to implement those programs and unless there are enough local people who are qualified. For example, one can open schools and hospitals and initiate irrigation projects. But if teachers, doctors and engineers do not go there in sufficient numbers to staff the schools, hospitals and irrigation projects they will not achieve their impact. So while we make programs for schools, hospitals and irrigation projects we need to pay attention to the infrastructure aspects that will (a) create enough local teachers, doctors and engineers and (b) will not deter teachers, doctors and engineers to come to this place.

With that in mind we propose that the following be pushed with the central government for implementation in the next 7 years  — the remaining part of the 11th plan and the 12th plan starting in 2012. I think the list below is doable. (Much more needs to be aimed for and done through the state government, industries and people in this region; but here we only focus on what one can realistically push with the central government and achieve.)

1. Railway Infrastructure: The Railway infrastructure of the KBK districts need to be drastically improved. In particular there are several approved lines that need to be speeded up. In addition there are some hanging lines that need to be extended and completed. The following shows the current Railway lines in Odisha.

The following picture shows the lines that bring better rail connectivity to the KBK districts. The ones in brown have been approved and we request that they be completed within the next 2-3 years and. We request that the ones in blue are approved and completed within 5 years.

2. Airport at Jeypore:  Currently Odisha has one airport with commercial flights. That is in Bhubaneswar. AAI is in the process of making another airport at Jharsuguda. We propose that another airport be built near Jeypore-Koraput with commercial flights in mind (small planes to start with) to serve the KBK area. An airstrip is already there.  The following map shows the location and its distance from the other airports in India.

3. Roads: On roads, we request that the construction of the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway be expedited.  More.

4. HRD/Education: The 11th plan has good proposals regarding schools, ITIs and model colleges. But as we said in the beginning of this document, KBK needs to produce its own teachers, doctors and engineers.

As a first step the Odisha government decided to locate the Central University of Odisha in Koraput. However, considering the vast area of KBK, we request the following.

4.1   The 11th plan has provision for having medical colleges and engineering colleges in 5 of the 16 new central universities. (See the page from Volume 3 of 11th plan below.) We request that the one of those medical college and engineering college be established as part of the Central University of Orissa, Koraput.

4.2   A centrally funded engineering college of the kind in Longowal Punjab (SLIET), Kokrajhar Assam and the one being made in Malda (GKCIET): These three centrally funded engineering colleges have rural focus and we request that one such rural focused 3-tier (catering to workers, technicians and engineers) is needed for KBK. We request that it be made in Balangir. In the next page we have cut-outs related to the above mentioned three colleges which show their mission perfectly matches what is needed in the KBK districts.

4.3 Upgradation of Food Craft Institute Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management.

4.4 Some kind of a centrally funded institute in Kalahandi: One has to be realistic in pursuing something that is achievable; something central government has established in smaller towns in other states; something with similar philosophy as SLIET/GKCIET/CIT-Kokrajhar but in a different field.

4.5 Special funding for proposed state Universities in KBK: The Odisha government higher education task force has recommended new state universities to be made in Jeypore (Koraput), Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi) and Balangir. We request that the central government give a one time 50 crore grant to each of these proposed universities so that they can be started at the earliest.

 5. Job Centers:

• Wagon factory in Kalahandi.
• Tourist infrastructure around Gandhamardan hills and Harishankar.
• Tourist infrastructure around Kolab dam and tribal hamlets of Koraput.

6. KBK+: In addition in the KBK+ district of Kandhamal a branch of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) can be realistically pursued and achieved.

Final Word: Please make additional suggestions. But be realistic. Also, note that here we are talking about what to pursue with the central government.

Update on May 7 2010: From Dharitri

Update on May 7 2010: From http://www.tathya.in/news/story.asp?sno=4058.

… Ananga Udaya Singh Deo, Minister Planning & Coordination reviewed the progress of the Khurda-Balangir Link Project here on 7 May.

This fact came to the fore during the discussion and insiders feel that unless political pressure will be mounted on the Ministry of Railways (MOR), expecting a fair deal on this project is a far cry.

Poor political weakness makes Odisha Projects vulnerable, pointed out a senior lawmaker.

Project sanctioned in 1994-95 with a cost of Rs.355.38 crore has been revised to Rs.700 crore.

As on today this project needs Rs.1000 crore to be completed, said an expert on Railways.

There are three phases in which the project will be commissioned.

Till date expenditure on the project is only Rs.96.41 crore during last 16 years!

After a lot of hue and cry, MOR has allocated Rs.120 crore in 2010-11.

And officials at the helm feel that if they will be provided funding properly, project will be completed in a short period.

Satyabrat Sahu, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Commerce & Transport (DOCT) briefed the Minister about the progress.

Mr.Sahu, a pro-active mandarin said thrust is being given for fast progress with funds available.

He said construction activities are going on from the side of Khurda, where as Minister wanted also to start construction from Balangir side.

V K Bahmani, Chief Administrative Officer( Construction) East Coast Railways said that as the current year budget provision has been hiked to Rs.120 crore, construction activities is likely to be carried out in 112 kilometre area.

Now work is going on from 0-36 kilometre area and proposal has already been submitted to IRB for 36-112 kilometre area.

It is expected that Rakesh Kumar Chopra, Member Engineering, IRB will be sanctioning in June.

Mr.Singh Deo urged all the Member of Parliament (MP) cutting across party line to march to New Delhi and press for this Coastal-Western Link, which is very vital for the interest of the state.

Following is from an email sent by Mr. Lalit Patnaik on 31st March 2010.

• In last one month ECOR has made tender docs ready for many jobs up to Nayagarh.
• Tigiria Begunia to Nayagarh is 58 kms.
• From Nayagarh side 20 % land has been acquired.
• Some land from Begunia side has been also acquired. But major chunk of land needs to be acquired by State Govt.
• No information of any work from Bolangir side.
• ECOR is waiting for some administrative sanction from Rail Ministry for that 58 km route length. MP Rudra Narayan Pani has been requested to follow up at Delhi.

• See also the earlier report at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3152.

Following is an excerpt from dnaindia.com.

… The port may be called the Adani-Kalinga Port.

The group has been nurturing a desire to have a port on the eastern coast in addition to the existing one on the western coast. It will help consolidate this group’s position in the port and shipping business in India.

Moreover, any group that owns major ports on both the western and eastern coasts of India could be expected to play a major role in coastal shipping as well, for ferrying goods from one coast to another, thus reducing costs, time and the incidence of pilferage that plagues road transportation.

… The proposed outlay is around Rs 10,000 crore. According to current plans, this port is to have 16 berths, and will have a capacity of 100 million tonnes —- almost similar to the capacity planned for Mundra.

… The interest of the Adani group has been confirmed by Satyabrat Sahu, transport and commerce secretary of Orissa, who is on record stating, “The Adani Group has given this proposal to set up a port. The state government is examining the proposal.”

… According to senior people in both the Adani group as well as the Orissa government, the process of examination is almost complete, and two of three approvals required have been obtained.

The last one should be in hand in a few days.

Adani officials said the port could be developed in two phases near Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district, barely three km from Jatadhari Muhan, where Posco India plans to set up its own captive port.

The group plans to invest Rs 5,000 crore in each of the two phases. If all goes well, 12 of the 16 berths should be up and running by 2015-16.

According to current plans, the port will handle coal, iron ore, liquid and containerised cargo. It may be mentioned that the Adani group owns several coal mines in Indonesia. Some of this coal is already being imported into India through the Mundra port.

Similarly, the Adani-Kalinga port could be the entry point for coal imports on the eastern coast as well, to feed many of the power plans that are expected to come up south of the proposed Adani-Kalinga port.

Similarly, since the Adani group has already become India’s largest player in the edible oil market through Adani-Wilmar Ltd, and owns oil plantations in Malaysia, this port could also play a significant part in edible oil imports.

The Adanis have also shown an interest in mining projects.

What is not known at this stage is the amount of land that will be available to the port, since a successful port must have good draft (depth), lots of land for storing goods meant to be shipped, and for evacuation of cargo that arrives at the port and transportation linkages to the hinterland.

… Since the Adani group has offered to the state government that it will be willing to invest in road and railways networks in and around the port, such a move could help in the overall economic growth of the state itself.

Such efforts could be further buttressed by hectic lobbying by both the Posco management and the owners of Dhamra Port (jointly owned by Larsen & Toubro and the Tata Group) for improving rail and road linkages on the eastern coast in India.

As was the case with the Mundra Port, the Adani group also plans to invest in power projects near this port as well.

The Odisha government should propose that Adani fund a new railway line along the proposed highway between Bhubaneswa/Khurda to Paradip and also part of the Khurda-Balangir line. The advantage for Adani will be:

• They will have a shorter path for their oil and other imports to be distributed in south India.
• Similarly through the Khurda-Balangir route and with another short-cut from Balangir to Nawapara Rd (need to be constructed) they will have another quick access path to western and central India. 

(The above mentioned three segments are shown in brown below.)

This will be a win-win situation in that it will allow both Adani and Odisha government to industrialize the Khurda-Balangir corridor and the interior areas such as Nayagarh, Phulbani and Bouda. Unlike the Railway line via Talcher and Angul and the one via Paradip-Haridaspur-Jakhapura-Keonjhar, the Paradip-Khurda-Balangir path will have less traffic from other entities, including very little passenger traffic, making it faster for Adani to send goods that way. Since the Khurda-Balangir corridor lacks industries the government may find it easier to find land and local support for industries in that corridor. In that case, it can encourage Adani and others to set up some of their planned industries in that corridor.

All of the above assume that the above dnaindia.com report is correct in that Adani aims to import coal and oil through this port and not focus on exporting minerals from Odisha.

(All numbers above are in Crores of Rupees. Cap means Capital expenditure and RVN means expenditure through Rail Vikas Nigam.)

2006 had a big allocation of 155.6 crores just for Daitari-Bansapani for its completion. With that done, in 2007 Lalu really screwed [pardon my language!] Odisha with respect to the new lines by having a total budget on new lines and gauge conversion of only 132 crores. (There may have been another 20 crores in that budget in the green book.) Things picked up a bit in 2008 and 2009 and finally now, it is at a decent state.

Now we must make sure that by next year there is approval of Buramra-Chakulia and increase in the allocation for all the other projects that are not completed or about to be completed. A sample projected budget (for new lines) that we should aim for the next seven years is as follows.

Other lines that are mentioned in the 2010-11 budget and to be pursued beyond are: Lanjigarh Rd – Phulbani – Talcher, Berhampur – Phulbani, etc.

Following is an excerpt from an article in Indian Express.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has, gently, turned the heat on absentee Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, asking her for a status report on the Railways in a fortnight.

 Forwarding a note by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on an assessment of the problems at Indian Railways and suggestions for a turnaround, Singh’s attempt seems to be two-fold: one, to prod Banerjee to give time to her Ministry and two, to get things moving in the Railways, so crucial to the country’s double-digit growth ambitions. …

Drawing a parallel with China, the Plan panel said that between 1990 and 2007, Indian Railways added only about 960 km while China added 20,000 km. China plans to add another 40,000 km in the next 10 years while India is currently doing around 250-300 km a year. “There can be no doubt that we should aim at adding 1,000 km a year for the next 10-12 years totaling 10,000 km of additional route length,” it said.

I hope Indian Railways figures out a way to add 10,000 kms of additional route length during the next 10 years. That would increase the chances of long languishing projects like the Khurda-Balangir line and the Talcher-Bimlagarh line being completed within that time.

They are:

• Approval of Chakulia-Buramarra line with an estimate of 468 crores.
• Proposal of a line via Banki for goods trains. (A line from Naraj to Banki to Khurda will form a circular Railway around greater Bhubaneswar.)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

Indian Railways has planned major infrastructure facilities like freight nodal points, container park and a coaching complex to cater to the proposed Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region in Paradeep.

… Mr KC Jena chairman of Railway Board said that “Paradeep is poised to emerge as one of the major industrial hubs in Orissa and it is also the site for the proposed PCPIR in the state. A master plan is being prepared for the Paradeep region and according to this plan, the Railways will set up infrastructure facilities like freight nodal points, container park and a coaching complex.”

Mr Jena said that the Railways is also committed to boost connectivity in the Paradeep region which includes the 82 kilometer Paradeep to Haridaspur broad gauge line, being taken up at an investment of INR 577.78 crore. East Coast Railway has acquired 1,146 acres of private land out of the total of 1,653 acres of land required for the project. This project being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited is scheduled for completion by March 2011.

… On the 290 kilometer Khurda Road to Bolangir project, Mr Jena said that “Work is already in progress for the first 36 kilometer stretch of the project and the fund for the second phase of the project is likely to be sanctioned in this year’s railway budget.” He added that the project had suffered delay due to land acquisition problems and a fast track committee for railway projects formed under the chairmanship of the Orissa Chief Secretary was making efforts to expedite the process of land acquisition.

Mr Jena added that the overall outlay for the various railway projects in Orissa stood at INR 1,049 crore in 2008-09, compared to INR 764 crore in the previous fiscal and the sanctioned figure excludes the projects being implemented by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.

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 FAX: PMO at 23016857 , 23015603 (Delhi STD code is 11), CMO at 674 2590 833 (home) 674 2535 100 (office) and Planning Commission at 23096699

To:

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

Cc: Mr. Naveen Patniak, Chief Minister of Orissa

Cc: Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, Governor of Orissa

 
Subject: Solving the greater Kandhamala problem – going after the root cause in a war footing

Dear Dr. Singh: 

While the civil society in Orissa, the nation and the world is disturbed by the  communal violence in Kandhamala, I would urge you to take steps to eradicate the root cause of the violence in Kandhamala and the nearby tribal, hilly, forested, awfully connected, poor and backward districts of Orissa (and its neighboring states). In this regard, please note that the violence did not spread to the major towns and cities of Orissa (such as Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore etc.)  that are well connected (by Rail and roads), decently developed and have a civil society. 

While the violence involving the murder of Swami Laxmanananda on August 23^rd 2008 and the subsequent communal violence that has taken about 40 lives is most deplorable and is in the forefront of the media, please also recall the following events that also took place within the last year in these areas:

1. February 15 2008:  400 to 500 armed Naxals raided the Nayagarh armory and killed 15 people including 13 policemen.
2. June 29 2008: 30 elite anti-insurgency policemen were killed by Maoists near Malkangiri.
3. July 16 2008:  21 Orissa policemen were killed in a land mine explosion and firing by the ultras in Malkangiri.
4. Dec 27 2007: Eleven churches were ransacked and torched in several areas of Kandhamal district.

Please note that these events happened in places in Orissa (Nayagarh, Malkangiri and Kandhamal) that are badly connected, near or within forests, have a large tribal population, and are among the most backward districts of India. The following map shows these districts are surrounded by large tracts of dense and open forested areas, and partly explains why the naxalites and Maoists are able to make them their base and why it has been difficult to deploy adequate police there in a timely manner.

Sir: As an economist and a world leader you must know that lack of connectivity, lack of development, lack of a civil society, entrenched forest and mountainous areas together with a different population base is a recipe for the sprouting of troubled areas. This is true all across the world; from J& K and North eastern areas of India to caucuses in Asia. While one cannot and should not get rid of the mountains or the people, the problem can be solved by making the areas well connected and bringing development. The Indian government is doing that in J & K and in the northeast; but has mostly forgotten about the similar areas in Orissa, Chhatisgrah, and Andhra Pradesh, which are the favorite bases of the Naxals and Maoists.

Sir: We would like you to pay the same attention to these areas in terms of connectivity, development, and creation of civil societies, as you do to the North east and J & K. In particular we would request that following be done in a war footing during the 11^th plan.

(i)                  The Vijaywada-Ranchi highway that passes through many of these areas be completed.

(ii)                Broadband connectivity be brought to these districts with adequate access locations.

(iii)                Two Railway lines, parts of which have already been sanctioned by the Railways but are progressing slowly, are completed and made operational. Those lines are:

a.       Khurda Rd – Balangir (passes through Nayagarh and Boudh) – This line was sanctioned in 1994-95 is progressing very slowly.

b.      Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh) – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Nabarangpur – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – passing through Kandhamala – Boudh – Angul – Talcher – Bimlagarh: Several segments of these lines are approved but progressing slowly. Those segments are Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd and Talcher – Bimlagarh. Angul – Talcher is operational.

(iv)              With the above lines operational, development should be brought into Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati, and KBK districts (including Kalahandi and Malkangiri) through 1-2 Rail factories and public sector units that can use the steel and aluminum and power produced in abundance in Orissa.

(v)                Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a university in Kandhamala and another in Kalahandi.

(vi)              A branch of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University be established in one of these districts.

(vii)             Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a government medical college and nursing college in Kandhamala or Boudha district.

Sir:  In regards to the cost of establishing the Railway lines, please note that as per the calculation in  http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ Indian Railways is scheduled to make a profit of 2679.72 crores/year from its operations in Orissa. If 1500 crores of this money (the rest may go to Indian Railway’s current plans for Orissa) is put into Orissa, in just 2-3 years the above mentioned lines could be completed.

Sir: We sincerely hope that you will translate the great concern you have shown towards the recent violent events to the above mentioned action items that address the key issues of lack of connectivity and development in these areas and thus provide a long term and real solution.

Sincerely

Appendix:

1. Estimated profit Indian Railways will make from Orissa in 2008-09:

2.  One of the earlier planning commissions has noted in http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc

“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

3. The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:  Malkangiri  58.36% ST  (+19.96% SC),  Rayagada 56.04% ST  (+14.28% SC),  Nabarangpur 55.27% ST (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% ST (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95%  ST(+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% ST (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% ST (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% ST (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% ST (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88%  ST(+8.77% SC). 

4. The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

5. Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

Following is from Sambada:

Following is from Samaja:

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

The Indian Railways on Monday finally spelt out its plan of action to bring the Khurda-Bolangir new broad gauge line, which was sanctioned 13 years ago, back on track here.

Addressing a press conference, Chairman of Railway Board Kalyan Coomar Jena said the Orissa government had been approached to provide land required for the 290-kilometre-long stretch Khurda-Bolangir line free of cost.

Moreover, funds available in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) with the State should be diverted to take up earthwork needed for laying the new line, Mr. Jena said.

“If the state government responds positively to our idea, the Khurda-Bolangir project would move much faster,” Mr. Jena said.

… The proposed Khurda-Bolangir line is a vital railway link, which would connect coastal Orissa with the western part. Though people had started demanding the railway link more than two decades ago, it was sanctioned in the year 1994-1995.

The projected cost of the project has now reached Rs. 1,000 crore.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) said 52 per cent of cumulative physical progress had been achieved while work was in progress up to 36 km distance. Till March 2007, only Rs. 67.83 crore had been spent on the project.

The Indian Railways also sought the State government’s cooperation on land acquisition for the Puri-Konark railway link. 

Sharing the progress on the proposed world-class railway station at Bhubaneswar, Mr. Jena said the railway was scouting for suitable land for the project.

He said Chinese expertise had been sought to prepare concept of the station, which would require at least 200 acres of land.

Subsequently, an expression of interest would be floated inviting interested firms to execute the project.

A high-level Chinese railway delegation headed by W.U. Wei, Director of Sino-India Railway Co-operation Working Group along with 12 members had visited the city for conducting a survey for developing a world class station here.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Kalinga Times.

… Jena said the gauge conversion of 90 km Naupada-Gunupur would be completed during the current fiscal.

Following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/167.doc.

PRESS RELEASE

January 30, 2008

Reg:   Submission of Memorandum by the House Committee of OLA to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways on 30.01.2008.

        The members of House Committee on Railways under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Speaker, Orissa Legislative Assembly, accompanied by the Members of Parliament submitted a Memorandum to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways in his office chamber. In the said meeting, Chairman, Railway Board and other high officials of Ministry of Railways were present.

          Orissa is on the threshold of major industrial upsurge and first progressing towards rapid industrialization. The large number of MoUs have been signed with several companies for setting up Steel Plants. Similarly, MoUs have been signed for setting up Alumina Plants and Super Thermal Power Houses. Several ports are also coming up along the Orissa coast. It is expected that additional generation of traffic will be staggering 200 to 250 MTPA by 2016.

          In the background of such massive transportation requirement, the rail infrastructure require urgent strengthening and expansion.

           Hence, the committee has given a proposal for enhancement of allocation of funds for the six ongoing projects to the tune of Rs.655 crore, for electrification of two Sections for Rs.50 crore, for gauge conversion Rs.125 crore, for doubling Rs.500 crore, altogether totaling to Rs.1330 crore, in the ensuing Railway budget.

-        2 –

          Hon’ble Railway Minister gave a patient hearing to the various demands raised by the House Committee and assured to look into the various proposals positively. He further assured that additional funds will be given for the projects in the execution stage for their early completion.

          On Puri-Konark project, Hon’ble Minister suggested that if land can be provided by the State Government, the project can immediately be taken up by the Government of India keeping in view the huge tourist potential of the area.

          The Committee also requested Hon’ble Minister to sanction nine new railway lines for which survey has already been completed. Hon’ble Minister assured that sanction of viable projects will be processed for approval of Planning Commission. The Committee also put forth demand for introduction of new train services, extension of selected existing services, increasing frequency of popular trains, improving quality of onboard services and amenities at the major Railway stations in the state.

          The Hon’ble Minister, Railways directed the Railway officials to examine the proposals given by the House Committee on Railways of OLA.

Various news reports mention some additional details. For example, New Indian Express reports that the committee asked for the following:

Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh- Rs 120 crore, Khurda Road- Balangir-Rs 150 crore, Haridaspur-Paradip-Rs 175 crore, Angul-Dubri- Sukinda Road-Rs 75 crore,Talcher-Bimalagarh-Rs 75 crore, Daitari-Banspani-Rs 60 crore.

Electrification of Kharagpur-Nimpura- Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar-Kottavalasa lines-Rs 50 crore, gauge conversion of Rupsa- Bangiriposi and Naupada- Gunupur lines-Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore respectively and doubling of Titlagarh- Lanjigarh Road-Rs 500 crore.

The following is from the PIB http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=33421. (Based on this Orissa will fall behind quite a bit: Only 2000kms of new lines
 none of the major new lines in Orissa, such as Khurda-Balangir, will get completed during the 11th plan. The states where the freight corridor will run and the states with a lot of narrow gauge lines will surge forward.)

In order to carry additional freight and passenger traffic in future, Railways have on hand 272 track capacity works, which on completion would add 20,852 kilometers to the Broad Gauge system.  The estimated throwforward cost of these works is approximately Rs. 55,000 crore.

A substantial amount of traffic moves on the High density routes viz. the ones which connect the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta, and the Delhi – Gaulhati route.  Railways have already announced construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors between JNPT-Tughlakabad (1483 kms) and Sonenagar-Ludhiana, (to be later extended to the deep sea port of Kolkatta) (1279 kms) at a cost of more than Rs. 28,000 crores to give relief to two of the densely saturated routes viz. Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes.  In addition, feasibility studies have been ordered on four other corridors – (i) North – South (Delhi-Chennai); (ii) East – West (Mumbair – Kolkotta); (iii) South – East (Vijayawada – Kharagpur ) and (iv) South – South (Chennai – Goa).

In addition, Railway proposes to augment its track capacity in XI Plan by 15,500 kilometers, including 2000 kilometer of new lines, 3500 kilometers of doubling and 10,000 kilometers of gauge conversion.

The revenue earning freight traffic in the XI Five Year Plan period is expected to increase from 728 million tonnes in 2006-07 to 1100 million tonnes in 2011-12.  The corresponding freight output is expected to increase from 475 billion ton kilometers in 2006-07 (prov.) to 707 billion ton kilometers in 2011-12.  In order to cater to the projected freight traffic, it is expected that 62000 wagons would be required during the XI Plan.  Railways will also require to induct 1800 electric and 1800 diesel locomotives for carrying the projected traffic in the XI plan.  In addition to enhance the capacity of the existing diesel and electric locomotive manufacturing units, Railways are also going in for setting up a diesel locomotive factory at Marhowra and electric loco factory at Madhepura which will produce 150 and 120 locos per year respectively.

Since capacity augmentation takes time, Railways have taken immediate steps to enhance the throughput by increasing the carrying capacity of wagons by 6 tonnes on most of the routes and by 8 tonnes on selected routes and also strengthen the track, bridges and allied structures.  In addition, 28 heavy mineral routes with over 6900 route kilometers have been further identified for implementation of 25 tonne Axle load.  Also on selected routes, double stack containers trains have been permitted to further enhance the throughput per train.

Railways also plan to induct wagons of better design, higher capacity, longer life and low on maintenance.

The passenger traffic in the XI Five Year Plan is expected to increase from 6242 million passengers in 2006-07 (RE) to 8400 million in 2011-12.  The correspondence passenger output is expected to increase from 700 billion passenger kilometers to 880 billion passenger kilometers.

In order to cater to this increase in traffic, it is expected that 22500 coaches would be required  during the XI Five Year Plan,  implying a yearly requirement of 4500 coaches.  In order to meet this requirement , the production capacities of the existing units –integral Coach Factory, Prembur  and Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthanla – are being enhanced to 1500 and 1400 coaches per annum respectively from the  present capacity of 1000 coaches per annum each.  Further, a new coach factory is also being planned to be set up at Rai Bareily to bridge the shortfall in requirement and production capacities.

Railways have constructed a total of 4084 kilometers of track in the last three years.  The details are as under :-

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri R.Velu in written reply to a question in the Lok  Sabha today.

(This is copied from my site on Railway infrastructure in Orissa.)

Most of Orissa’s rail network ( full-orissa-map, map-east-n- north-orissa, map-south-n-west-orissa) is part of the East Coast railway( map1, map2, time-table), and a small portion is part of the South eastern railway( map, plans) of Indian Railways. For trains across India see the Indian Railways Schedule, and for trains across Orissa see the ECOR schedule. Maps from IRFCA are here. India9.com has a list of stations and trains related to Orissa.

Rail network description:

• Howrah(0)… Kharagpur (116) … Lakshannath Rd (178)-Jaleswar (184)-Rajghat halt (191)-Amarda Rd (198)-Basta (203)- N Mayurbhanj Rd (207)-Rupsa Jn (213)-Haldipada (219)-Tikirapal halt (226)-Balasore (231)-Nilgiri Rd (241)- Khantapara (246)-Panpana (251)-Bahanga Bazar (256)-Soro (264)-Sabira (271)-Markona (279)-Ranital (285)- Bhadrak(291) -Baudpur(303)-Kapali Rd(308)-Kenduapada(312) -Manjuri Rd(320)-Dulakhpatna(323)-Baitarani Rd (328)- Korai(335)-Jajpur Keonjar Rd(340) – Jakhapura (348)-Brahmani PH-Jenapur(356)- New Garhmadhupur (362) -Haridaspur(372) -Dhanmandal(377)- Barithengarh(383) – Byree(388)-Sri Jhadeswar(392) – Kapilas Rd (398)- Nergundi(401)- Kendrapara Rd (409)- Cuttack(412) -Kathajori(414)-Gopalpur Balikuda(417)-Barang(424)- Patia(431)- Mancheswar (433)- Vani Vihar (437)- BBSR(440)- Lingaraj temple rd (445)- Retang(452)- Khurda Rd(459)-Argul (465)-Kaipadar Rd (468)- Dhaulimuhan(473)- Tapang(477)-Golabai(482)- Nirakarpur(485)- Bhusandapur(493)-Mukteswar(498)- Kaluparaghat (503) – Kuhuri(509)-Gangadharpur(517)- Solari(523)-Balugaon(530)- Chilika(537)- Khallikot (548)-Rambha(559)-Humma(570)-Ganjam(576)- Chhatrapur Court(584)- Chatrapur(585)- Jagannathpur(597)-Berhampur(606)-Golanthara (617)- Surla Rd(621)-…-Palasa(680)-…- Naupada (705) -…- Vijainagaram(821) -…- Visakhapatnam (882)

(ecor map)

• Haridaspur-Kendrapara-Paradeep (preliminary stage of construction; only few stations are named currently)
• Cuttack(0)-Mattagazpur(7)- Kandarpur(17)- Badakhandita(25)- Raghunathpur(32)- Gorakhnath (45) -Jhankad Sarla Rd(50)- Rahama(60)- Badabandha (73)- Paradeep(83)
• Khurda Rd (0)-Haripur(3)-Motari(8)-Kanas Rd(11)- Delang(15)- Birpurusottampur(22)-Sakhigopal(27)- Janakideipur(33)-Malatipatpur(36)-Puri (44)
• Khurda Rd(0)-Khurda Town(10.8)-Rajsunakhala (44)-Nayagarh(65.6)-Dasapalla(110.25)-Boudh (198)-Sonepur(240.1)-Bhainsapalli(274.9)-Balangir (preliminary stage of construction; only few stations are named currently)
• Sambalpur (0)-Sambalpur Rd(2)-Sambalpur city(7)- Maneswar(15)-Hatibari(28)- Jujomura(39)- Charmal (56)-Rairkhol(71)-Bamur(87)-Saragipali(97)- Handapa (111)- Boinda(118) – Jarapada(133)- Kerejanga(143) – Angul(157)-Talcher Rd (169) – Talcher(175)
• Talcher (0)-Talcher thermal(4)-Budhapank(10)- Meramondali(19)-Naya Bhagirathipur(28)- Hindol rd (32)-Sadashibpur(42)-Dandimal(46)- Dhenkanal (53)-Shyamcharanpur (58)- Joranda Rd(61)- Rajathagarh(73)- Radhakishorepur (77)- Ghantikhal (83)- Naraj Marthapur(90)-Barang(98)
• Talcher(0)-…-Rajathagara(73)-Gurudijhatia(83) – Charbatia(92)-Salagaon(96)- Nergundi(100) -…- Cuttack(112)-…-Bhubaneswar(140)
• Howrah(0)-…-Kharagpur-(115)…-TATA(249.5)-…- Rajkharswan(291.4)-…-Chakradharpur(312)-…- Bhalulata(392)-Bisra(398.6)-Bondamunda Halt (406.4) – Raurkela (413=X)-Panposh (418.7)- Kalunga(426.3)- Kansbahal (433.3)- Rajgangpur (443)-Sonakhan(450) -Sagra(456.7)- Garpos (461)-Tangarmunda (469)- Bamra(477.5)- Dharuadihi(487.2)-Bagdihi(493.4)- Panpali(499.6)- Dhutra(505.5) -Jharsuguda Jn(514.2)- Ib(523.1)- Brajrajnagar(525.8)-Belpahar(534.9)- Himgiri(548.2)- Daghora(555.3)-…-Raigarh(585.7)-…- Bilaspur(718) -…- Raipur(828.6)
• Badampahar(0)-Chhanua PH(9)- Kuladiha(16)- Rairangpur(24.5)-Aunlakhor(34)-Bahalda Rd(47)- Haludpukur(67.5)-Tata(89)
• Gurumahishasini(0)-Aunlakhor(9)
• Raurkela(0)- Quarry (8) – Kuarmunda (18)- Biramitrapur (27)
• Titilagarh(0)-Sikir(11)-Badmal(20)-Saintala(29)- Deogaon Rd(47)-Balangir(64)- Balangir Rd(66)- Loisingha(82)- Khaliapali(94) -Dungripali(106)- Barpali(121)- Bargarh Rd(140)- Attabira(158) -Godbhaga(166)-Hirakud(175)-Sambalpur(182)- Sambalpur Rd(184)-Sason(196)-Rengali(205)- Lapanga(215)-Brundamal(224)- Jharsuguda(231)
• Visakhapatnam(0)-..-Shimiliguda(121)-Araku(132)- Gorapur(142)-Darliput(155)- Padua(165)-Bheja(175)- Machhakund Rd(186)- Paliba(199)- Suku(206)- Koraput(217)- Manabar (224)- Jarati(234)- Maligura (245) – Chhatriput (252) -Jeypore(259)- Dhanapur (266) – …Jagdalpur(323) -…Kirandul(473)
• Koraput (0)-Damnjodi(19)- Kakrigumma (46) – Lakshmipur Rd (62) – Tikiri (83)-Rauli(96)- Lelligumma (113) -Bhalumaska (129)-Kautguda(155)- Singhapur Rd (164) – Rayagada (173)
• Raipur (0)-…-Khariar Rd(106)-Nawapara Rd (117)- Lakhna(131)- Harishankar Rd(147)-Truekela Rd(156)-Kantamanji(170)-Muribahal(185) – Rahenbata (196) – Titlagarh(203)- Kesigna(216) -Kandel Rd(225) – Rupra Rd(232)- Norla Rd(239)- Lanjigarh Rd(250)- Ambodola(264)- Doikallu(276) -Muniguda(289)-Bissam Cuttack (306)- Therubali (324)-Singapur Rd9(333)- Raygada (343) -Ladda (351)-…-Bobbili(414)-… -Vijainagaram(467)
• Rupsa Jn (0)-Thakurtota(6)-Jugpur(12)- Jogal(18)- Betonoti(24)-Krishna Ch Pur (35)-Jamsole(42)- Baripada (52)
• Baripada (0)-Baghra Rd(3)- Bhanjapur(4)- Kuchai(12) -Buramara(24)-Rajalukan(36)-Bangriposi (37.4) (narrow gauge, being converted)
• Balasore (0)-Nilgiri (21) (narrow gauge, used for transporting granite; defunct now?): [1]
• Naupada(0)-Tekkali(7)-Peddasana(13)-Temburu(17)- Ganguvada(25)-Patapatnam(34)- Parlakimidi (40)- Sitapuram(52)-Kashinagar(65)-Lihuri(71)- Bansidhara (79)-Palasingi(84)- Gunupur(90) (narrow gauge; being converted; Gunupur to be connected to Therubali)
• Jakhapura(0)-Sukinda Rd(8)-Baghupal(16)- Tomka(24)-Daitari(33). Tomka(0)-Tangiriapal(10)-Sagadapeta(26)-Chilikdara (39)- Harichandanpur(49)-Nilakantheswar(59)- Sitabanji(70)- Basantpur(83)-Naranpur(92)- Keonjhargarh(98)-Goaldih(109)- Porjanpur(116)- Nayagarh(130)- Jaroli(146)-Bansapani(155)-Murg Mahadev Rd(164)-Deojhar(167)-Padapahar (183)- Dangoaposi(188)-Maluka(198)-Kendposi(208)- Talaburu(217)-Jhinkpani(226)-Singhpokharia(235) -Chaibasa(242)-Pandrasali(250)-Rajkharswan(262) (between Chakradharpur and Tata) … Tata (304)
• Bolanikhadan(0)-Barabil(6)-Bara jamda(16)- Noamundi (30)-Padapahar(33)
• Gua(0)-Bara jamda(8)
• Kiriburu(0)-Karampada(6)-Tupadih(11.5)-Rangra(20)- Rakshi(30)- Bimlagarh(40)-Patasahi(48)-Chandiposh (55)- Champajharan(61)-Lathikata(70.6)-Dumetra (80)- Bondamunda Halt(86.5)
• Bondmunda Halt-Bangurkoel(0)-Bispur(7)- Nawagaon (13)- Orga(20)-…-Hatia(148); Nawagaon-Punrapani
• Barsuan(0)-Gognaposh(14.5)-Bimlagarh(21)

Current railway connectivity and Indian railway websites:

• 2007 Bhubaneswar connectivity (draft): Bhubaneswar/Cuttack/Puri/KhurdaRd (on a map)(7,7a,29,29a,30,30a,32,32a,34,34a,40,78)

• 2007 Rest of Orissa connectivity (draft): Rourkela (5,5a,32,32a,34,34a,36,36a,40,78), Sambalpur (5,5a,32,32a,34,34a,40,78), Berhampur/Chhatrapur (7,7a,29,29a,30,30a,34,34a,40), Titlagarh (34,34a,40,42,42a), Rayagada (34,34a,40,42,42a), Balasore/Bhadrakh/Jajpur Keonjhar Rd (7,7a,29,29a,30,30a,32,32a,40), Dhenkanal/Anugul/Talcher (78), Jharsuguda (5,5a,32,32a,34,34a,36,36a, 40,78), Barbil (87,87a), Bolangir/BaragarhRd (34,34a,40), Koraput (40), Baripada (32,32a), Rupsa, Keonjhargarh, Gunupur/Parlakimidi.
• Time Table: Howrah-Rkl-Mumbai(5), Mumbai-Rkl-Howrah(5a), Howrah-BBSR/Puri-Chennai(7), Chennai-BBSR/Puri-Howrah(7a), Guwahati-BBSR-B’lore/Kerala(29), B’lore/Kerala-BBSR-Guwahati(29a), Howrah-BBSR-Hyderabad(30), Hyderabad-BBSR-Howrah(30a), Puri-Delhi(32), Delhi-Puri(32a), Puri-Okha(34), Okha-Puri(34a), Dhanbad-Chennai-Dhanbad(40), Puri-Sambalpur-Puri(78), Vizag-Rayagada-Delhi(42), Delhi-Rayagada-Vizag(42a), Barbil-Howrah(87), Howrah-Barbil (87a), Patna/Danapur-RKl-Bilaspur/Durg(36a), Bilaspur/Durg-RKL-Patna/Danapur(36).
• Orissa rail history
• List of trains passing through various Orissa stations
• Seven days availability of trains leaving Bhubaneswar
• Seven days availability of trains leaving Cuttack
• Seven days availability of trains leaving Puri
• Earliest dates on which reservations are available from Puri
• Train running (late/in time/etc.) status page (by train #)
• Train departure by station name
• Trains/Fare/Reservation Availability Status Between Important Stations — Editor’s comment July 30 2005: There is a list of about 150 stations there, but the list only includes two stations in Orissa, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. They should atleast add Puri, Khurda Rd, Cuttack and Sambalpur to that list. Moreover, Khurda Road should be considered to be in Bhubaneswar area and trains that skip Bhubaneswar but pass through Khurda Road should show up when queries about Bhubaneswar are asked.
• Trainfinder between two stations
• Train reservations
• Coach positions: Southern railway
• IR time tables: Official Dec 2006 TAAG (Trains at a glance) site; a more organized Dec 2006 TAAG site.
  • 2006 Dec-2007 July ECOR time table
  • 2004-2005 ECOR time table: Vizag-Bhadrakh, Bhadrakh-Vizag, Vizag-Kirandul-Vizag, Titlagarh-Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda-Titlagarh, Rayagada-Raipur, Raipur-Rayagada, Vijainagaram-Titlagarh, Titlagarh-Vijainagaram, Talcher-Sambalpur, Sambalpur-Talcher, KhurdaRd-Angul, Angul-KhurdaRd, Puri-KhurdaRd, KhurdaRd-Puri, Raygada-Koraput, Cuttack-Paradeep–Nuapada-Gunupur, Vijaywada-Vizag, Vizag-Vijaywada, Bhadrakh-Howrah, Howrah-Bhadrakh.

Railway budgets:

• Plans in the 2007 budget
  • New Trains:
    • Bhubaneswar-Rameswaram Express (weekly) after gauge conversion;
    • Bhubaneswar-Ranchi Garib Rath (tri-weekly) [most likely to follow the route Ranchi-MuriJn-ChandilJn-KandraJn-SiniJn-Chaibasa- Dangoaposi-PadapaharJn-Bansapani-Kenojhargarh- Tomka-SukindaRd-Jakhapura-Cuttack-Bhubaneswar]
  • Increase in Frequency: 2843/2844 Puri-Ahmedabad Express via Rayagada (from triweekly to 4 days in a week); 2835/2836 Hatia-Yesvantpur Express (from weekly to biweekly)
  • Doubling works of Bimlagarh-Dumitra (Part), Barbil-Badajamda, Titlagarh-Raipur have been given approval.
  • Survey for doubling: Sambalpur-Talcher; Khurda Road-Puri
  • Budget Numbers
    • New lines (94 crores total as opposed to 271.85 crores in 2006-07): Koraput-Rayagada (2 crores), Talcher-Sambalpur (3 crores), Lanjigarh Rd-Junagarh (12 crores), KhurdRd-Balangir (20 crores), Haridaspur-Paradeep (20 crores), Talcher-Bimlagarh (15 crores)
    • Gauge conversion (60 crores total as opposed to 49.8 crores in 2006-07): Naupada-Gunupur (25 crores), Rupsa-Bangiriposi ( 35 crores)
    • Doubling (293 crores as opposed to 293.16 crores in 2006-07): Talcher-Cuttack-Paradeep with 2nd bridge on Mahanadi and Birupa (64 crores), Cuttack-Barang (55 crores), Barang-Khurda Rd 3rd line (88 crores), Rajathagarh-Barang (86 crores). [Sambada lists some more doubling projects that is not listed in the pink book (ecor, se). Sambada claims the total 2007-08 budget for doubling to be 449.5 crores.]
• Plans in the 2006 budget
  • New Trains: Bhubaneswar-Baripada Express (tri-weekly) ; Howrah-Puri Express(bi-weekly) [done]; Bhubaneswar-Pondicherry Express(weekly) [feb14]; Tatanagar – Yesvantpur Express via Rourkela- Sambalpur- Rayagada(weekly) [done]; Howrah-Mumbai Express (weekly)
  • Extension of trains: 7227/7228 Vasco-Vijayawada Express (4 days a week) to Howrah [done]; 8507/8508 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Hirakud Express to Amritsar; 8305/8306 Raipur-Sambalpur Express to Bhubaneswar [done]; 8467/8468 Puri-Jaipur Express to Jodhpur [done]; 8563/8564 Bangalore-Visakhapatnam Prashanti Express to Bhubaneswar; 211/212 Puri-Sambalpur Passenger to Rourkela
  • Increase in Frequency: 5625/5626 Bangalore- Guwahati Express from bi-weekly to tri-weekly [done]
  • In 2006-07, Railways propose to complete over 550 kms of New Lines. The sections include : Keonjhar-Daitari of Banspani-Daitari. With the completion of the above sections, the connection of Jakhapura (near Jajpur Road, between Bhubaneswar and Jajpur Rd) to Daitari, Keonjhar, Bansapani, to Rajkharsuan (between Chakradharpur and Tata) will be complete. See map. This will create alternate paths from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela (not much shorter, if any, than BBSR-Sambalpur-RKL though), and Bhubaneswar to Tata (a bit shorter than BBSR-KGP-Tata).
  • Completion of doubling of Titlagarh-Kesinga, Sambalpur-Sarala and Jharsuguda bye-pass in Orissa. Doubling of Padapahar-Banspani have also been included in the budget. In addition, works of doubling of Sambalpur-Titlagarh have been included in the Budget. Other doubling plans include Koraput-Kirandul, Kottavalasa-Koraput, and Bhadrak-Nergundi 3rd line.
  • Budget numbers: Total of Rs 653.9 crore for Orissa in 2006-07 ( against a request of 800 crores, and 279.39 crore more than allotted in 2005-06.): Rs 19 crore for the Lanjigarha Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh, Rs 23 crore for the Khurda Rd- Balangir, Rs 155.58 crore Daitari-Keonjhar-Banspani, Rs 44 crore for Haridaspur-Paradip, Rs 20 crore for Angul-Duburi- Sukinda Road, and Rs 10 crore for Talcher-Bimalgarh. Rs 15.89 crore has been sanctioned for gauge conversion of Rupsa-Bangiriposi (Simlipal), Rs 34 crore for gauge conversion of Nuapada-Parlakimidi-Gunpur project, and Rs 293.16 crore for 12 doubling projects for 2006-07 as against Rs 170 crore for 2005-06.
  • 2006-07 Budget details at: Pink Book: ECOR details, SER details; Green Book: ECOR, SER.
• Past Railway budgets: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06.
• Railway proj ects in Orissa — 2004 budgetary provisions
• Requests from Orissa legislator’s in Loksabha debates: [2005: Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Ananta Nayak, Bikram Keshari Deo, B. Mahtab, Arjun Sethi, Brahmananda Panda, Kharabela Swain, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Mohan Jena]
• A twelve year railway budget plan for new lines and gauge conversion in Orissa: [April,1-2006]

New lines, gauge conversions, doublings: [Hindu-April05]

• Hurdles: 2006-07 ECOR allocation, 2006-07 SER allocation, Baripada-Bangiriposi problem (see page 8-9 of 2006-may-CAG report)
• New lines in progress or recently completed plus wish list for immediate consideration
  • Daitari-Banspani 155 km, estimated cost Rs 590 corres, 78% complete by May 2004. [map]
  • Lanjigarh-Bhawanipatna-Junagarh 55.67 km, Rs 120 crore, 15% complete on May 2004. [map] Editors note: Highest priority should be to have the following link: Malkangiri (southwestern tip of Orissa) to Jeypore (next to Koraput) to Nabarangpur to Junagarh-Bhawanipatna-Lanjigarh (in Kalahandi district), where Lanjigarh is just south of Titlagarh. (This will bring railways to the districts of Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi in KBK.)
  • Haridaspur-Paradip 82 km, Rs 340 crore, 4.25% complete but on fast track. [map], [Statesman:March2006]
  • Sukinda Road-Angul 90 km, Rs 415 crore, 0.2% complete on May 2004, but on fast track. (Sukinda Rd is in between Jajpur Road and Daitari) [map].
  • Talcher-Bimlagarh (Total: 154 km, Rs 727 crore) [map] [ This will make the shortest distance between BBSR to Rourkela to 308 kms: BBSR-Talcher (114) + Talcher-Bimlagarh(154) + Bimlagarh-Rourkela(40). Other alternate paths between BBSR-Rourkela are: BBSR-KGP-Rourkela (440-115+412-115= 325+ 297=622); BBSR-Talcher-Sambalpur-Rourkela (440); BBSR-Jakhapura-Daitari-Bansapani-Rajkharswan- Rourkela (92+38+155+108+122=515); BBSR-Bansapani-Padapahar-Bolanikhadan-?- Kiriburu-Bondamunda-Rourkela (285+28+32+ 15+85+7=452). ]
  • Khurda Road-Bolangir 290 km, Rs 700 crore, 6% (survey) complete by May 2004. [map]
  • Gunupur-Therubali: [map]
  • Bangriposi-Gurumahishasini: see mention in 2005 budget — section 91.III.11 (connecting Gurumahishasini to Bangiriposi and then having broad gauge till Rupsa gives the path TATA-Baripada-Rupsa; [an alternate demand by people]); [SER plan], [SER plan2], [map]
  • Chakulia-Buramara: [SER plan], [SER plan2], [people's demand]
  • Jaleswar-Digha: [SER plan], [SER plan2]
  • Wishlist: Kiriburu-Bolanikhadan (about 10 kms) — will result in the path Rourkela-Bimlagarh-Kiriburu- Barbil-Bansapani-Jakhapura-Cuttack- Bhubaneswar: [google-image], [map].
  • Wishlist: Naraj-Khordha-Khurda-Road line as part of a circular rail for the Bhubaneswar area, Khordha-KhurdaRd should be constructed immediately as part of the KhurdaRd-Balangir line, then complete the Khorda-Naraj part and then make Khorda another reliever station for Bhubaneswar. Then there should be a train running between Cuttack-Barang-Bhubaneswar- Khurda Rd-Khordha-Naraj-Barang at frequent intervals.
  • Recently completed or planned to be completed: Koraput-Raygada (Dec 1995), Talcher-Sambalpur (Aug 1998), Rupsa-Baripada (Sept 2005), Daitari-Bansapani (scheduled – 2006/07).
• Gauge Conversion:
  • Naupada-Gunupur, 90 km, Rs 89 crore, just starting. [map].
  • Rupsa-Bangiriposi: Rupsa-Baripada is already done (see item 108 2005 budget; [trial-run]) [map]; [Rupsa-Baripada DMU from Sept'19 05]
• Doubling projects:
  • 32-km Raghunathpur-Cuttack stretch on the Cuttack-Paradip section
  • 24-km stretches between Norla Road and Lanjigarh Road and between Titlagarh and Kesinga on the Titlagarh-Lanjigarh section on the Raipur-Vizag route
  • Sambalpur-Rengali (22.7 km)
  • Rajathgarh-Barang (31.5 km)
  • Khurda Road-Puri (15.3 km)
  • Cuttack-Barang (11.7 km)
  • Khurda Road-Barang (35 km)
• New lines under consideration: surveying stage (Baragarh-NawaparaRd, Gunupur-Therubali and Puri-Konark survey are mentioned in 91.II.5, 91.II.1 and 91.II.3 of 2005 budget):
  • Jeypore-Kottameta new BG rail link, 128 kms
  • Puri-Konark new BG rail link, 30 kms
  • Phulbani-Berhampur new BG line, 175 kms
  • Talcher/Hindol Road -Gopalpur/Berhampur new BG rail link, 245 ms
  • Talcher-Bimlagarh new BG rail link, 130 kms
  • Bargarh-Nawapara Road new BG link via Padampur, 120 kms
  • Jeypore-Nawarangpur new BG line, 45 kms (and then extended to Junagarh)
  • Jeypur-Malkangiri
  • Editor’s wish list: Therubali-Angul-Keonjhar-Badampahar (will result in the paths Jeypore-Koraput-Rayagada- Therubali-Angul-BBSR, Jeypore-Koraput-Rayagada- Therubali-Angul-Sukinda-Jajpur Rd-Balasore- Howrah, Kirandul-Jeypore- Koraput- Rayagada- Therubali- Angul-Keonjhar-Bansapani-Ranchi, Jeypore – Koraput-Rayagada-Therubali-Angul- Keonjhar -Badam Pahar-Jamshedpur)
  • Editor’s wish list: Jajpur Rd- Jajpur-Aradi- Chandbali- Dhamara port
  • Other links in Orissa govt’s list: Raygada-Gopalpur, Jaleshwar-Digha, Keonjhar-Badampahar.

Future Plans:

• Rail Traffic Projections: [NewIndPress:Aug9-05]
• A twelve year railway budget plan for new lines and gauge conversion in Orissa: [April,1-2006]
  • Orissa CM demands more fund and trains in rail budget of 2006
• New trains, extension and increased frequencies: wish list for 2007 and beyond
  • Goal: Better connectivity between BBSR and Rourkela.
    • Introduce a BBSR-Rourkela half day Intercity train and/or extend BBSR-Sambalpur train to Rourkela. [BBSR-Rourkela distance is Rourkela-Jharsuguda (102) + Jharsuguda-Sambalpur (49)+ Sambalpur-Talcher(175) + Talcher-Barang(98) + Barang-BBSR (16) = 440km] So a BBSR-Howrah (437 km) Janashtabdi/Dhauli kind of timing, or the BBSR-Vijag (443km) Intercity timing would be ok. For example: If it starts from BBSR at 6 AM then using the 8413 timing it can reach Sambalpur by 11 AM and can reach Rourkela by 1:40 PM. Then it can leave Rourkela by 2:30 PM and reach BBSR by 10:10 PM. If this is successful then have another train with the opposite timing. I.e., leaving Rourkela at 6 AM reaching BBSR at 1:40 PM and leaving BBSR at 2:30 PM and reaching Rourkela at 10:10 PM. Extend Puri-Sambalpur and Rayagada-Sambalpur expresses to Jharsuguda so that passengers from BBSR/Puri/CTC can connect to many of the trains that go west (to Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad etc.) from Jharsuguda.
  • Goal: More frequency between BBSR and Mumbai: Do one or more of the following.
    • Easiest: Extend Visakha-Express to Mumbai.
    • Next: Extend the newly extended 8305/8306 Raipur-Bhubaneswar express to Mumbai (via Nagpur) [Alternatively extend this train to Bhopal via Nagpur]
    • Extend Vidarbha or Sevagram Express (between Mumbai and Nagpur) to Bhubaneswar (via Raipur-Titlagarh-Bargarh-Sambalpur-Dhenkanal) [Also increases connectivity to Nagpur]
    • Increase frequency of weekly 2145/2146 BBSR-Mumbai express(so that twice a week it goes in the current route via Anugul-Sambalpur, twice a week it goes via Vijainagaram-Rayagada- Titlagarh- Raipur, and thrice a week via Vizag-Koraput- Rayagada-Raipur); [Similar to the trains connecting Puri-BBSR to ADI.]
  • Goal: Increase connectivity between Western Orissa and Allahbad-Delhi ( Public demand):
    • Extend 8601 Hatia Jammu Tawi express (now via Allahbad and Delhi) to Sambalpur (via Rourkela) first and may be after a year all the way till Bhubaneswar
    • Extend 2817/8603 Hatia-Delhi Samjhouta Express (via Allahbad) to Sambalpur (via Rourkela).
    • Increase frequency of Vizag-Delhi(now planned to be extended to Amritsar) express and on the new days let it take the route of Vizag-Koraput-Rayagada-Titilagarh-Balangir- Sambalpur and then follow the rest of the schedule.
  • Increase frequency of BBSR Rajdhani (perhaps once or twice plying through Sambalpur, once plying through Keonjhar, and going beyond BBSR to Viskhapatnam);
  • Goal: Better connection between western Orissa and South India, especially Hyderabad ( Public demand) [There are direct trains from Rourkela/Sambalpur to Bhubaneswar, Howrah, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, but none to Hyderabad currently]:
    • Extend 6512 Bilaspur-Bangalore Express (via Hyderabad) to Rourkela or via Rourkela to Hatia/Ranchi or Tata.
    • Extend Vizag-Hyderabad Godavari express to Rourkela.
    • Introduce a Tata-Hyderabad Express going through Rourkela. [This should be happening soon, as Tata has excellent connections to all parts of India except to Hyderabad. May be ECOR can chip in towards this.] (Note in 2006 budget a new weekly Tata- Bangalore express is proposed. This may be routed through Hyderabad.)
  • Have a new Rayagada-Raipur (343 kms) day time express and Balangir-Vijainagaram (336 km) day-time express.
  • Increase frequency of weekly BBSR-Bangalore express and extend it to Mysore;
  • A Bhopal-Nagpur-BBSR-Puri train. (Bhopal and Nagpur are very close to Orissa but are not properly connected to BBSR by Rail.)
  • Extend Dhanbad-Tata Subarnreka express to Bhubaneswar.
  • Extend 8102 Muri express (Tata/Hatia-Jammu Tawi) to Bhubaneswar via Keonjhar (on the Hatia part) and Bhubaneswar via Kharagpur and Balasore on the Tata part.
  • A weekly Puri-Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur-Jabalpur-Bhopal-Kandla express
  • Extend Puri-Jodhpur express to Jaisalmer
  • A weekly Puri-Jaipur-Bikaner express
  • A weekly BBSR-Chennai-Tuticorn express
  • A weekly BBSR-Chennai-Cape express
  • A weekly BBSR-Chennai-Trivendrum express
  • A weekly BBSR-Chennai-Mangalore-Calicut express.
  • Once Daitari-Bansapani line is completed: a Tata-Puri passenger as well as a BBSR-TATA Intercity express via Keonjhar. [BBSR-Tata distance via Keonjhar will be about 421Kms: BBSR-Jakhapura (92) + Jakhapura -Tomka(24) + Tomka-Bansapani(155)+ Bansapani- Rajkharswan(108) + Rajkharswan-Tata(42)] Just for reference: BBSR-KGP-Tata = (440-115) + (249-115) = 325+134 = 459 kms.
  • Once Daitari-Bansapani line is completed, run one of the BBSR-SiniJn-Delhi train via Keonjhar on some of the days. (BBSR-Kenojhar-Sini = 410 kms while BBSR-Tata-Sini=486 kms)
  • a daily North Orissa Express train between Baripada and Puri. (in 2006-07 plan there is a thrice daily Baripada-BBSR train. This train is operational now.)
  • extend one of the trains to Delhi to beyond say Chandigarh/Jammu
  • a daily train between Baripada and Sambalpur;
  • a daily train between Rourkela and Berhampur;
  • a daily train between Paradeep and Berhampur;
  • extend 8447/8448 BBSR-Koraput express upto Jeypur;
  • increase frequency of 5639/5640 weekly Puri – Guwahati express;
  • once the line between Howrah-BBSR is completely electrified [done Dec 1 05] an almost non-stop twice a day, 4 hrs each way train between Howrah-BBSR;
  • Extend Konark express to start from Baripada as well as 2145/2146 BBSR-Mumbai express to start from Baripada. [There are direct trains from Balasore to BBSR, Howrah, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, but none to Mumbai. In general all train going west that start from BBSR should be extended to Balasore];
  • make a reliever station to Bhubaneswar with express halts at Patia. It is 1 km to the right of Magnetic Square in this map, and 2 km to the top of Patia square in this map. Note that this station is 3 km from Infocity, 1 km from KIIT, 2 km from Silicon, 3.5 km from Trident, 2 km from Koustuv, 2 km from College of Engg, 2 km from CIPET, 5 km from Fortune tower, etc.
• People’s demand: [Pioneer July'05: Extension of Raipur-Sambalpur intercity express to Bhubaneswar instead of Sambalpur [in 2006-07 plan], completion of Khurda-Balangir Railway Line, extension of Bhubaneswar -Sambalpur intercity express to Titilagarh instead of Sambalpur]
• Orissa integration plan (July 2005):
  • Now: lots of trains in the route Howrah- Kharagpur -Balasore-BBSR-Berhampur- Palasa-Vizag and Howrah-Rourkela-Mumbai; and many trains in the line Sambalpur-Dhenkanal-Bhubaneswar.
  • in 5 years: 2 fast express trains daily between: Koraput-Raygada-Gunupur-BBSR, Tata-Baripada- Rupsa-BBSR, Rourkela-Bansapani-BBSR, Chakradharpur-Keonjhargarh-Bhubaneswar; every two hours during the day trains between Puri-BBSR, Paradeep-BBSR, Berhempur-BBSR, Dhenkanal-BBSR, Bhadrakh-BBSR
  • in 10 years: 2 express trains daily between Junagarh-Bhawanipatna-LanjigarhRd-Titlagarh- Balangir-Phulbani-BBSR, 1 express train daily in the route Rourkela-Bimlagarh-Talcher-BBSR

Rail freight corridor: [TOI-Oct20-05] RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Limited) : projects, public notices

• Orissa related projects: 11:Kharagpur-BBSR electrification, 12:BBSR-Kottavasla electrification, 14:Talcher-Paradeep doubling with new bridges on Mahanadi and Birupa, 15:Daitari-Bansapani-Jakhapura new line and electrification, 19:Angul-Sukinda new line, 20:Jakhapura-Haridaspur 3rd line, 26:Rajathagara-Barang doubling, 27: Cuttack-Barang doubling, 28: KhurdaRd-Barang 3rd line, 43:Angul-Sukinda electrification, 44:Haridaspur-Paradeep newline (11 out of 48 projects on March 16 2007 were in Orissa)
• Orissa related public notices: Rajathagara-Barang doubling resettlement plan (rehabilitation plan), Cuttack-Barang doubling resettlement plan (rehabilitation plan), Barang-KhurdaRd resettlement plan.