___________

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.

Added on Dec 11th 2010: I think a Central Agricultural University can be pushed for Kalahandi. Currently a Central Agricultural University exists in Imphal (http://www.cau.org.in/). I came across the news item in http://bundelkhand.in/portal/NEWS/Centre-clears-an-AIIMS-like-institute-for-Jhansi-Bundelkhand that says "the Union agriculture ministry had given the go-ahead to develop a central agriculture university in Jhansi". So a similar one can be pushed for Kalahandi.

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.

This is good news. But just to make sure that the Railway wagon factory happens in Kalahandi and is not shifted to another location, the Kalahandi people should  keep copies of all newspaper articles on this. That way in case the CM changes his mind, the copies of the news paper reports on this can be presented to him. Following is a screen copy of the report in Pioneer.

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.

Recently unhappiness is brewing because of various trains bypassing Cuttack. See the following news item from Samaja.

I believe there is a easy solution to this: Develop the Naraj station to have express train stops and develop the accessibility of the Naraj station from the roads that goes from Naraj to Bidanasi side of Cuttack.

I wrote about it earlier in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1967. Following are some excerpts from that article.

Naraj Station lies across Kathjodi river about 1 km away from the bridge. It is about 2 kms from the proposed 2nd campus of Ravenshaw university, 3-4 km from Bidanasi-CDA and within 1 km from the proposed Sri Sri University. 

Several trains in the BBS (Bhubaneswar)-SBP (Sambalpur) line such as 2893 (BBS-BLGR superfast), 8304 (Puri-SBP Intercity), 8405 (Puri-ADI), 8507 (VSK-ASR) skip Cuttack and go via Naraj without stopping there. By developing the Naraj station a bit more, developing the road between the station and the bridge, and introducing stops at Naraj station people in Cuttack will be able to easily access these trains.

… Naraj is really very close to Cuttack; much close to Cuttack than Barang or the proposed station between Barang and Patia. Also, Naraj station is much closer to the newer parts of Cuttack (such as CDA and Bidanasi) than the Cuttack station. Also, a lot of development is planned near Naraj that includes the Sri Sri University, National Law University and 2nd campus of Ravenshaw University. …

There were some concerns regarding the overlap with the proposed New Barang station between Patia and Bhubaneswar. I think with the rate Cuttack-Bhubaneswar area is growing even if a major station in the form of a New Barang station comes up, it will be still a good idea to have a express stop station in Naraj.

In the not too far future the greater Bhubaneswar area would need five stations: Khurda Rd, Bhubaneswar, New Barang, Cuttack and Naraj. The following map shows the five stations and the distance between them.

(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.

Update: See inaugural pictures taken by Abhishek Roy at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23140990@N03/.

Following is from the ECOR web site. Thanks to Dilip and Situn for the pointer.

ROURKELA-BHUBANESWAR INTERCITY TO BE INTRODUCED; FREQUENCY OF BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) SUPER FAST EXPRESS INCREASED

Bhubaneswar, February 10, 2010

Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce Rourkela-Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express from 13th February 2010 and increase the frequency of Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly with effect from 18th February 2010.

On the inaugural day 8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will be introduced from Rourkela on 13th February 2010, but the usual run of service for this train will commence from 15th February 2010 in both the directions. This train will run daily except Sundays.             

8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express will leave Rourkela at 05.30 a.m. and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 01.00 p.m. In the return direction, 8106 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express will leave Bhubaneswar at 01.35 p.m. and will arrive at Rourkela at 09.30 p.m.              

This train has One AC Chair Car, Four Second Class Chair Car, Four General Second Class and two Guard cum Luggage Vans in its composition having stoppages at Dhenkanal, Talcher Road, Angul, Rairakhol, Sambalpur City, Rengali, Jharsuguda, Bamra and Rajgangpur between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

BHUBANESWAR-LOKMANYA TILAK TERMINUS (LTT) EXPRESS               

It has also been decided to increase the frequency of 2880/2879 Bhubaneswar-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super Fast Express from weekly to bi-weekly w.e.f 18th February 2010 from Bhubaneswar on every Monday & Thursday and w.e.f 20th February 2010 from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) on every Wednesday & Saturday.                

The composition of this train has been increased from 16 coaches to 22 coaches. The train will now run with its new composition i.e. One AC-2 tier, Three AC-3 tier, 11 Sleeper Class, Four General Second Class Coaches, Two Guard cum luggage van and one Pantry Car. The scheduled timings and stoppages for this train at different places will remain unchanged.

In regards to the 2879/80 BBS-LTT, as we wrote in http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/2543, although the frequency was announced to be biweekly in 2008-2009 budget, when it was initially implemented it was implemented as a weekly train. Finally it is becoming biweekly. Note that in the 2009-2010 Rail budget and in November 2009 time table there was an announcement for a 2745/2746 Puri-LTT weekly express. That is yet to be implemented. It should get implemented before the next budget.

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.

Following is from an ad in Dharitri.

Following is from http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/.

Bhubaneswar, October 29, 2009

Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce eight new trains, extension of four trains, and increase in frequency of two trains
along with change of timings for 19 trains in ECoR for the New Time Table to be implemented with effect from 1st November 2009.

NEW TRAINS

Two daily new trains, five weekly new trains, one bi-weekly new train will be introduced in E.Co.Rly. Date of introduction for these trains will be notified.

One daily new Intercity train will be introduced between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar. 8105 Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity express will leave Rourkela at 05.30a.m and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 01.00p.m. 8106 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Intercity Express will leave Bhubaneswar at 01.35p.m and will arrive at Rourkela at 09.30p.m.

One daily new express train will be introduced between Rourkela and Koraput. 8107 Rourkela-Koraput Express will leave Rourkela at 04.45p.m and will arrive at Koraput at 07.30a.m on the next day. In the return direction, 8108 Koraput-Rourkela express will leave Koraput at 05.00p.m and will arrive at Rourkela at 07.00a.m on the next day.

One new weekly DURANTO non stop Super Fast Express will be introduced between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. 2281 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Duranto Super Fast non stop express shall leave Bhubaneswar at 08.15a.m on every Sunday and will arrive New Delhi at 06.05a.m on the next day. In the return direction, 2282 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Duranto Super Fast
non stop Express will leave New Delhi at 01.00p.m on every Monday and will arrive Bhubaneswar at 11.05a.m on the next day. There will be no commercial stoppage for this train.

One new weekly Super Fast Express will be introduced between Puri and Surat. 2743 Puri-Surat Super Fast express will leave Puri at 07.50p.m on Sunday via Sambalpur, Titilagarh & Raipur and will arrive Surat at 03.20a.m on Tuesday. In the return direction, 2744 Surat-Puri Super Fast Express will leave Surat at 08.30a.m on every Tuesday and will arrive Puri at 04.15p.m on the next day.

One new weekly Super Fast Express will be introduced between Puri and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai). 2746 Puri-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) Super Fast express will leave Puri at 05.25a.m on Tuesday via Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Raigarh & Bilaspur and will arrive LTT at 01.35p.m on the next day. In the return direction, 2745 LTT-Puri Super Fast Express will leave LTT at 00.15a.m on every Thursday (Wednesday night) and will arrive Puri at 08.50a.m on every Friday.

One new weekly Express will be introduced between Puri and Kamakshya. 5643 Puri-Kamakshya express will leave Puri at 10.15p.m on Saturday via Howrah & Malda Town and will arrive Kamakshya at 04.20a.m on Monday. In the return direction, 5644 Kamakshya-Puri Express will leave Kamakshya at 11.45p.m on Thursday and will arrive Puri at 08.00a.m on Saturday.

One new weekly Express will be introduced between Howrah and Yeshvantpur. 2847 Howrah-Yeshvantpur express will leave Howrah at 11.30p.m on Sunday via Bhubaneswar and will arrive Yeshvantpur at 09.15a.m on Tuesday. In the return direction, 2848 Yeshvantpur-Howrah Express will leave Yeshvantpur at 08.00a.m on Thursday and will arrive Howrah at 08.00a.m on Friday.

One new bi-weekly Super Fast Express will be introduced between Visakhapatnam and LTT. 2749 Visakhapatnam-LTT bi-weekly superfast express will leave Visakhapatnam at 09.00a.m on Wednesday and Saturday and will arrive LTT at 1.05a.m on the next day. In the return direction, 2750 LTT-Visakhapatnam Express will leave LTT at 12.25p.m on Thursday and Sunday and will arrive Visakhapatnam at 02.45p.m on the next day.

EXTENSION OF TRAIN

Four trains will be extended in the new time table. Date of extension for these trains will be notified.

8425/8426 Bhubaneswar-Raipur-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express, 8413/8414 Paradeep-Bhubaneswar-Paradeep Intercity express and 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar-Howrah Dhauli Express will be extended to Puri. Similarly, 8416/8415 Puri-Kendujhargarh-Puri Express will be extended to Barbil in the new Time Table.

INCREASE IN FREQUENCY:

2443 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express will run four days a week instead of earlier two days. This train will now leave Bhubaneswar on every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. In the return direction, 2444 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express will leave New Delhi on every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Now this Rajdhani will run three days a week w.e.f. 3rd October 2009 and the services of this train for running in fourth day in the week i.e. from Bhubaneswar on Thursday and from New Delhi on Tuesday will be notified.

2739/2740 Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam express will now run daily instead of earlier four days a week which will be notified.

CHANGE IN DAYS OF SERVICE
      

5639 Puri-Guwahati express will now leave Puri on Tuesdays instead of earlier Saturday with effect from 3rd November 2009. 5640 Guwahati-Puri Express leaving Guwahati on Thursday will now leave on Sunday with effect from 1st November 2009.

CHANGE IN TIMINGS
      

The timings of 19 trains have been changed from 05 minutes to 45 minutes in the new time-table. These trains are 7479 Puri-Tirupati Express, 8410 Puri-Howrah Jagannath Express, 2896/2888 Puri-Howrah weekly, 2882 Puri-Howrah Garib Rath Express, 2898 Bhubaneswar-Puducherry, 2830 Bhubaneswar-Chennai, 8411 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Intercity Express, 8518 Visakhapatnam-Korba Express, 8509 Visakhapatnam-Nizamabad Express, 8309 Sambalpur-Nizamabad Express, 8507 Visakhapatnam-Amritsar Express (via Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur), 2880 Bhubaneswar-LTT Express, 8452 Puri-Hatia Tapaswini Express, 2739 Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad Garib Rath Express, 210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger and 222 Puri-Angul Passenger.

Similarly the timings of 2801 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express at Cuttack and 2841 Howrah-Chennai Coromandal Express at Brahmapur have been changed for midnight adjustment.

Sd/-
Sr.PRO

Update: Biswarup Basu in an IRFCA posting pointed out that based on the current schedule this train is  competitive with the 8005/06 Koraput-Howrah Express; 1 hr 5 minutes faster towards Howrah and 15 minutes slower in the other direction.  So many may not mind traveling end-to-end on this train. He thinks there is enough traffic to introduce a daily train in this route.

East Coast Railway is running eight pairs of a special train between Sambalpur and Howrah via Angul. Following is its schedule.

From end-to-end connectivity point of view the path taken by this train is longer than the regular Sambalpur-Rourkela-HWH path.

• SBP – Howrah : 563 kms
• SBP – Kapilas Rd (273-15 = 258) + Kapilas Rd – HWH 396  = 654 kms

However, this train would give a direct connection between Howrah and places like Angul, Talcher and Dhenkanal. A train in this route with different times and more stops could also provide direct and useful connection between Sambalpur/Redhakhol/Angul/Talcher/Dhenkanal and Jajpur Rd/Bhadrakh/Balasore.  Perhaps ECOR is exploring a regular train in this route. 

Update: Aug 18, 2009 – As Dilip comments below the train should start its maiden run any day now.

Dilip Mohanty writes the following in an IRFCA posting:

The much awaited Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Express (declared in the current budget in an addition to the 57 new trains) remains a mystery. A leading local daily named "SAMBAD" has reoprted that the train will start within a few weeks and the Railways Authorities at Rourkela have already received an additional time table for this train. It reports that the train will depart Rourkela at morning 05:15 hours and reach Bhubaneswar at 13:15 hours in the afternoon. After a stay of about 30 minutes at Bhubaneswar, it will depart at 13:45 hours and reach Rourkela at 21:45 hours(an expected Superfast). This train is supposed to be operated by South Eastern Railway.

This train will bring up some new convenient 1-change connections.

• From Bhubaneswar (BBS) to Mumbai: Using this train one can go to Jharsuguda (JSG) and then take Gitanjali that leaves JSG at 21:43. 2860 Gitanjali Express reaches Mumbai CSTM at 21:30 the next day. The total time from BBS to CSTM would be 31 hrs 45 minutes, much less than 1020 Konark which takes 36 hrs 40 mins. The weeklies 2146 and 2880 take 32hrs 15mins and 30hrs 15mins respectively.
• From Mumbai to Bhubaneswar: 2859 Gitanjali leaves CSTM at 6:00 and reaches JSG the next day at 04:25. One can then take the above Rourkela – Bhubaneswar Express to reach Bhubaneswar at 13:15. The total time from CSTM to BBS would be 31hrs and 15 mins.
• From Rourkela to Secunderabad: Using this train one can go from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar and then take Konark to go to Secunderabad. Konark leaves Bhubaneswar at 15:15 and reaches Secunderabad the next day at 11:35. The total time from Rourkela to Secunderabad would be 30hrs 20 mins. (One can take Falaknuma that leaves BBSR at 14:05 instead of Konark; but the connection time would be much less making it risky.)
• From Secunderabad to Rourkela: 2704 Falaknuma leaves Secunderabad at 16:00 and reaches BBS the next day at 10:40. One can then take the BBS-ROU Express to Rourkela to reach ROU at 21:45. The total duartion will be 29 hrs and 45 mins.

Indian Express has a nice article on the history of Parlakhemundi light railway. Following are some excerpts.

Paralakhemedi Light Railway (PLR) was two feet six inches gauge railway. It was the brainchild of the erstwhile Raja of Paralakhemedi. The Kimedi country, consisting of Paralakhemedi, Paddakimedi and Chinna Kimedi, was under a single ruler till 1607. Paralakhemedi came under the British influence in 1768.

East Coast Railway came into existence in the year 1893 with the construction of the Cuttack-Khurda Road-Puri line, covering a distance of 96 kms and its subsequent link along the East Coast up to Vijayawada — junction point of Southern Maratha Railway and Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway. As a result, a stretch of 1280 kms of East Coast Railway, covering the entire coastal stretch of Cuttack, Khurda Road, Puri, Palasa, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, was opened for traffic between 1893 to 1896. East Coast Railway brought rail line to Naupada in 1894. The Raja of Paralakhemedi decided to connect his capital with Naupada, which was only 40 kms away. With the government giving sanction in 1898, work began in full earnest. The line was opened to traffic in 1900. This railway line was built at a cost of Rs 7 lakh.

Due to a change in the policy of the British Government, the Bengal Nagpur Railway, popularly known as the B.N.R, took over the northern section of East Coast Railway from Vizianagaram to Cuttack, including the Branch Line of Puri, by 23-01-1902. Accordingly, the working of the PLR was taken over by the Bengal-Nagpur Railway in 1902. In the first few years, the PLR had incurred losses but after 1910, it started making marginal profits and after 1924-25, the profits increased. This motivated the Raja to extend the line to Gunupur in two phases in 1929 and 1931. There were now a total of ten stations between Naupada and Gunupur. Tekkali, Paddasan, Temburu, Ganguvada, Patapatnam, Paralakhemedi, Kashinagar, Lihuri, Bansidhara and Palasingi.

The management of BNR was taken over by the Government of India in October 1944. On 14-04-1952, at the time of the re-grouping of the Indian Railways it became part of the Eastern Railway. The merger of B.N.R. into Eastern Railway, however, did not last long and on 01-08-1955 it was merged with newly constituted South Eastern Railway. During the SER centenary celebrations in 1987, set of four postage stamps were released. One of the stamps featured the PL 691 locomotive.

The standard type of locomotive on PLR was the 20 ton 0-6-4 tank locomotive with small (27 inch diameter) coupled wheels and an axle load of only 4.75 tons. …

The foundation-stone was finally laid for the Naupada-Gunupur gauge conversion work at Naupada on September 27, 2002. With effect from April 1, 2003, PLR became a part of the newly formed East Coast Railway. The line was finally closed for gauge conversion on June 9, 2004.

— VIKAS SINGH, RAIL ENTHUSIAST
Courtesy National Rail Museum

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

The broad gauge railway line between Naupada and Parlakhemundi, a long-cherished dream of people in parts of Srikakulam and Gajapthi districts, is ready and the mandatory trial run of train on this 40 km new rail track, which was postponed because of election code, will be carried out anytime after April 23.

…

The 40 km. stretch between Naupada and Parlakhemundi is part of gauge conversion project between Naupada and Gunupur covering a total distance of about 90 km.

According to authorities concerned, the trial run would be followed by introduction of departmental trains and heavy duty machines. Then the Commissioner of Railway Safety, an independent authority with headquarters at Kolkata, would issue clearance for running regular passenger trains. The total cost of the project was Rs.168 crores and so far Rs.120 crores had been spent. The remaining work between Parlakhemundi and Gunupur is also progressing well and is likely to be completed soon.

Work on major bridges in this stretch had already been completed. According to authorities, linking work is likely to be completed by June. There is some problem in procuring ballasts for this track. However, authorities are confident of overcoming this.

The Orissa government should push for a passenger train in this line to be included in the new budget.

Following is from a report in Hindu.

A bi-weekly express between Nizamabad and Sambalpur will be introduced on March 23. The train No.8310 will leave Nizamabad at 6.15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays, arrive/leave Secunderabad at 9.25 p.m. before reaching Sambalpur at 8.15 p.m. the next day. This service will commence on March 24.

The train no 8309 will depart from Sambalpur at 8.15 a.m. on Mondays and Fridays, will arrive/leave at Secunderabad at 8.20/8.40 a.m the next day. It will reach Nizamabad at 11.50 a.m. This service will commence on March 23.

This train will connect the Sambalpur-Titlagarh-Rayagada part of Orissa with Hyderabad. With this the direct connectivity between Sambalpur and major cities in the southern states will be as follows:

• Hydearbad: Twice a week
• Bangalore: Thrice a week
• Chennai: Daily
• Kochi, Coimbatore: Daily
• Vishakapatnam: Fifteen times a week
• Vijayawada: Twelve times a week

Earlier in February, Ranchi-Varanasi Express was extended to Sambalpur twice a week. With that extension, Sambalpur’s direct connectivity to other parts of India are as follows:

• Kolkata: Twice daily
• Delhi, Amritsar: Thrice a week
• Varanasi: Twice a week
• Mumbai: Twice (to become Thrice) a week
• Ahmedabad, Surat: Weekly
• Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bhopal: Weekly
• Ranchi: Eighteen times a week
• Tata: Twenty two times a week
• Dhanbad, Bokaro: Daily
• Nagpur: Four (to become five) times a week.
• Raipur: Eleven (to become twelve) times a week.

Jharsuguda Junction is only 50 kms from Sambalpur. If one takes into account trains throughJharsuguda then the connectivity to Mumbai and Kolkata skyrockets, to Delhi and Ahmedabad increases significantly and to Pune is added.

Naraj Station lies across Kathjodi river about 1 km away from the bridge. It is about 2 kms from the proposed 2nd campus of Ravenshaw university, 3-4 km from Bidanasi-CDA and within 1 km from the proposed Sri Sri University. 

Several trains in the BBS (Bhubaneswar)-SBP (Sambalpur) line such as 2893 (BBS-BLGR superfast), 8304 (Puri-SBP Intercity), 8405 (Puri-ADI), 8507 (VSK-ASR) skip Cuttack and go via Naraj without stopping there. By developing the Naraj station a bit more, developing the road between the station and the bridge, and introducing stops at Naraj station people in Cuttack will be able to easily access these trains.

Many trains between Bhubaneswar and Sambalpur do go via Cuttack.

However, the reason some trains (especially intercity trains) from Bhubaneswar towards Sambalpur skip Cuttack and go via Naraj is that they save 24 kms if they go via Naraj.

This saving will be very important if an intercity between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela is to be introduced. Currently the fastest connection between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela is 2832/33 HTE Garib Rath. It covers 443 kms and takes 7 hr 50 minutes. By skipping Cuttack and using Naraj as an access point to Cuttack the distance will reduce to 419 kms (See 2893 and 2832 distance between Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal for the difference), which is more comfortable for an intercity train.

Naraj is really very close to Cuttack; much close to Cuttack than Barang or the proposed station between Barang and Patia. Also, Naraj station is much closer to the newer parts of Cuttack (such as CDA and Bidanasi) than the Cuttack station. Also, a lot of development is planned near Naraj that includes the Sri Sri University, National Law University and 2nd campus of Ravenshaw University. The following map from wikimapia shows where Naraj station lies vis-a-vis Cuttack. In the map below Naraj station is in the left bottom corner.