Puri – Bansapani Express extended to Barbil from 8th February 2012; Slowly but steadily rail connectivity is increasing in the interior areas of Odisha
Railway Budget 2010, Railway Budget 2011, Railways February 6th. 2012, 1:11pmNot so long ago Puri and Bhubaneswar were the only initiating and terminal stations in Odisha with trains plying only on a few major routes: (i) Kharagpur – Bhubaneswar – Berhampur (ii) Tatanagar – Rourkela – Jharsuguda – Bilaspur (iii) Khurda Rd – Puri. (iv) Jharsuguda – Sambalpur – Titlagarh – Raipur (v) Titlagarh – Rayagada – Vijianagaram ; with only the first three having significant number of trains.
Over the last 10-15 years things have been changing steadily and the following (from Samaja) is a welcome announcement. It will connect the Bardbil – Joda mining towns to the Odisha heartland.
With this extension Barbil will have a daily train to Puri and a daily train to Kolkata.
Following is a list of the other stations (besides the main line stations of Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore, Jharsuguda and Rourkela) which now have emerging connectivity.
- Barbil: Daily express train to Puri and a daily express train to Kolkata. A daily passenger train to Tatanagar.
- Kendujhargarh: The train to Puri passes through Kendujhargarh. In addition there is a fast passenger between Kendujhargarh and Bhubaneswar 5 days a week.
- Baripada: Six days a week express train to Bhubaneswar and 3 days a week express train to Kolkata; three passenger trains (two of them 6 days a week; another 3 days a week) to Rupsa.
- Koraput: Daily express train to Bhubaneswar and Jagdalpur, Daily express train to Kolkata, Daily express train to Rourkela, Daily passenger to Rayagada, Daily passenger to Vizag and Kirandul, and a 5 days a week express train to Vizianagaram and Vizag has been announced.
- Paradeep: Daily express train to Puri (via Bhubaneswar) and three passenger trains to Cuttack.
- Gunupur: A daily passenger between Gunupur and Puri (via Bhubaneswar).
- Rayagada: There are many trains that pass through Rayagada linking Rayagada with Vizianagaram and beyond (Vizag, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kochi, Berhampur, Bhubaneswar), with Titlagarh and beyond (Raipur, Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Tata, Dhanbad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata) and with Koraput and (Jagdalpur) Among them are a daily express train between Rayagada and Sambalpur and daily passenger trains between Rayagada and Vizag, Rayagada and Vijaywada, and Rayagada and Koraput.
- Titlagarh: There are many trains that pass through linking Titlagarh with Raipur and beyond (Nagpur, Bhopal, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Gandhinagar), with Sambalpur and beyond (Rourkela, Dhanbad, Tata, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Kolkata), with Vizianagaram and beyond (Vizag, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi), and with Koraput and beyond (Jagdalpur). Among them are a daily express train between Titlagarh and Kolkata, and daily passenger trains between Titlagarh and Raipur and Titlagarh and Jharsuguda.
- Balangir: There are many trains that pass through linking Balangir with Titlagarh and beyond (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Gandhinagar, Rayagada, Koraput, Vizag, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi) and Balangir with Sambalpur and beyond (Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Dhanbad, Tata, Kolkata). Among them is a daily express train between Balangir and Bhubaneswar.
- Bhawanipatna: With the Lanjigarh Rd – Bhawanipatna – Junagarh line coming to a completion within a year it is expected that we will have new trains to/from Bhawanipatna in a year or two. Currently, Kesinga and Titlagarh stations serve this area.
February 8th, 2012 at 5:13 am
The feeling of the people on getting a train connectivity after decades of wait can be easily understood. As the central government has announced to connect all the districts without train line under PM’s Railway Vikash Yojana during the 12th Plan, Odisha should push for the Sambalpur-Phulbani-Berhampur line currently under survey. This along with the Khurda-Bolagir line can change the landscape of Central Odisha. As for connectivity, while most of the cities are now connected with Bhubaneswar,the inter-city connectivity is still lacking. For example Berhampur-Rourkela, Berhampur-Balangir, Cuttack-Koraput, Paralakhemundi to Bhubaneswar etc. This needs to be improved.
February 8th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
I guess the Berhampur-RKl train may be given the green signal along with RKL-New delhi express.But again the bargaining starts with railways.Cuttack-Koraput can be done by extending Hirakhand exp to Cuttack or even Balasore or Baripada.
February 17th, 2012 at 11:39 am
Rourkela can never be the capital of Kosal, if it becomes a reality. Because Kosal agitation has been initiated and carried out at Balangir-Sambalpur region. So most probably Sambalpur or Balangir would be the capital
February 21st, 2012 at 11:04 am
12767/12768 Santracgachi-Nanded Express and 19659/19660 Shalimar-Udaipur Express all set for their maiden journey