___________

Based on the 2011-12 and 2010-11 budgets the status of doubling in Odisha is as follows:

1. Second bridge over Mahanadi and Birupa: Done.
2. Nergundi-Rajathgarh-Barang: Nergundi-Rajathgarh is basically done. For Rajathgarh-Barang, this year there is an allocation of 33.2 Crores. With this allocation, by March 2012, 265.2 crores is expected to be spent. This is out of a total estimated budget of 275 crores. In other words by 2012 March this part will be almost done.
3. Nergundi-Cuttack-Raghunathpur-Rahama-Paradeep: Doubling of Nergundi-Cuttack-Raghunathpur is basically done. There is a budget of 0.1 crores for this in 2011-12 and so far 178.19 crores have been spent on this out of a total estimated budget of 180.24 crores. Doubling of Rahama-Paradeep is also basically done. There is a budget of 0.1 crores for this in 2011-12 and so far 78.72 crores have been spent on this out of a total estimated budget of 80.76 crores. There is no mention of the Raghunathpur-Rahama segment in the budget, but the maps show that this part is doubled. In other words doubling of this whole segment is done.
4. Cuttack-Barang: This year there is an allocation of 39 crores for this. With this allocation, by March 2012, 180.2 crores is expected to be spent. This is out of a total estimated budget of 186 crores. In other words by 2012 March this will be almost done.
5. Barang-Khurda Rd 3rd line: This year there is an allocation of 39 crores for this. With this allocation, by March 2012, 220 crores is expected to be spent. This is out of a total estimated budget of 221 crores. In other words by 2012 March this will be basically done.
6. Khurda Rd – Delang: This year there is an allocation of 0.25 crores. It needs another 0.96 crores to complete the total estimated budget of 69.67 crores. So this is done.
7. Delang-Puri (28.7 km): This doubling was approved in 2010-11 with a total budget of  133.71 crores and an annual allocation of 2 crores. This year it has been given a budget of 35 crores. It needs another 96.71 crores before it is completed. That would mean that it will be done around in 2-3 more years. Odisha government may use the upcoming Nabakalebar in 2015 to get this done and operational before that.
8. Vizianagaram-Lanjigarh Rd-Titlagarh-Raipur: The maps show that Vizianagaram-Lanjigarh Rd is double line. For the Lanjigarh-Rd – Titlagarh segment, there is an allocation of 5 crores, and there is a need of another 0.8 crores tp take it to the total estimated budget of 171.4 crores. So basically the Lanjigarh-Rd – Titlagarh segment will be done by 2012 March. The 203 km Titlagarh -Raipur segment is just getting a start. The 2011-12 budget has a 60 crores allocation for this. But it needs another 629.16 crores for completion. The total estimated budget for this segment is 691.67 crores.
9. Jharsuguda-Rengali-Sambalpur: There is an allocation of 33.5 crores in this year’s budget for the Jharsuguda-Rengali segment. After that there is only a need of 7.48 crores to take it to the total estimate of 119.54 crores. So this segment will be almost done by March 2012.  There is an allocation of 20 crores in this year’s budget for the Rengali-Sambalpur segment. After that there is only a need of 0.6 crores to take it to the total estimate of 113.55 crores. So this segment will be basically done by March 2012. Together they will be almost done by March 2012.
10. Sambalpur-Titlagarh: This is in the initial phase. There is an allocation of 60 crores in the 2011-12 budget. By March 2011 only 39.73 crores would be spend on this. The total estimate of 950.84 crores.
11. Rajathgarh-Talcher-Sambalpur: Maps show that the Rajathgarh-Talcher segment is double line. Doubling of Talcher-Sambalpur was approved in 2010-11 with an initial allocation of 2 crores. This year there is an allocation of 66 crores. The total budget is 613.27 crores.
12. Bimlagarh-Champajharan-Dumetra (SER): There is a budget of 35 crores for Bimlagarh-Dumetra and another 35 crores for Champajharan-Bimlagarh. Based on the two entries in the budget, it seems the Champajharan-Dumetra part will be done by March 2012 and another 115.9 crores is need to complete the Bimlagarh-Champajharan part.
13. Jakhapura-Daitari-Tomka-Jaruli-Bansapani (ECOR/SER): Bansapani-Jaruli is listed in the SER budget and has an allocation of 35 crores for this year. It needs another 8.18 crores to reach the estimated total of 90.89 crores. ECOR budget lists the segment Bansapani-Tomka-Daitari-Jakhapura. It was initiated in 2010-11 with a budget of 150 crores of which only 29.57 seems to have been spent. Its budget for 2011-12 is 70 crores. It needs another 843.38 crores to reach its estimated total of 942.95 crores.
14. Bansapani-Padapahar Jn-Bara Jamda Jn-Barbil;  Raj kharswan-Padapahar Jn: Maps show that Rajkharswan-Padapahar Jn – Barajamda Jn is double line. The 2011-12 budget has 5 crores each for the two segments of Bansapani – Padapahar and Bara Jamda – Barbil. After that  Bansapani – Padapahar will reach its estimated total of 155.28 crores and Bara Jamda – Barbil would need 1.51 crores to reach its estimated total of 52.51 crores. So basically all these will be double lines by March 2012.

The total 2011-12 budget for doubling is 576.17 crores. See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3272 for how this budget compares to past budgets. See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3259 for an old projection to the future.

Railway Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee had announced during the 2010 Railway budget that all new trains, extensions and frequency increases that were announced in the 2009 budget will be implemented by the end of March 2010. That day is 8 days away. Following are the trains mentioned in 2009 budget and the subsequent time table that are relevant to Odisha and that are yet to be implemented.

• 2745/46 Puri-LTT weekly express (weekly): SECR announcement has come regarding its implementation. See this and this. With the implementation of this connectivity between Bhubaneswar and Mumbai will further increase to a daily Konark express and four times a week trains via Angul.
• 5643/44 Puri-Kamakhya Express (weekly)
• 8107/08 Rourkela Koraput Express (daily)
• 2281/82 Bhubaneswar- New Delhi Duranto express (weekly)
• 2847/48 Howrah Yeshvantpur Express (weekly) – This train may be scrapped as a new 2245/46 Howrah-Yeshvantpur Duronto express, which was not in the 2009 budget (nor in the time table), was suddenly introduced few months back and the 2010 budget increases the frequency of that train to 4 times a week. If the 2847/48 is scrapped then it will be a loss to Odisha as the Duronto has no commercial stops in between.
• 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express (daily) – Extension to Puri.
• 8415/16 Puri-Kendujhargarh Express (daily) – Extension to Barbil. [Finally done on 8th February, 2012]
• 2443/44 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express – Frequency increase to 4 times a week. Prior to 2009 budget it was 2 times a week. Some time back after the 2009 budget it was made 3 times a week. Once it becomes 4 times a week there will be a daily Rajdhani between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. (Update: Became 4 times a week in the end of April 2010.)

In addition the 8495/96 Bhubaneswar – Rameswaram Express, which was announced in the 2007-08 Railway budget, is yet to be operationalized. The delay has been due to the gauge conversion that was going on on part of the route. It is complete now. So this train should start running any day now. (Update: It will start on May 21, 2010.)

Looking ahead the trains relevant to Odisha that were announced in the 2010 budget are: 

1. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur unreserved train. [Done: December 2010]
2. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
3. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah Bharat Tirth tourist train (?)
4. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad Bharat Tirth tourist train
5. Puri – Howrah daytime Duronto [Done: December 7 2010]
6. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly) [DONE: April 2010]
7. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: December 2010]
8. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly) [Done: January 2011]
9. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
10. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
11. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)  (?)
12. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly) [Done: January 2011]
13. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly) [Done: February 24 2011]
14. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara [Done: February 2011]
15. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly) [Done: December 11 2010]
16. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger [Done: January 2011]
17. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion) [Puri-Palasa  passenger extended to Paralakhemundi from December 18 2010]
18. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days [Done: January 2011]
19. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Garib Rath to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly) [Done: January 9th 2011]
20. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg (Daily) [DONE: August 1 2010]
21. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur (Daily) [Done: December 17 2010]
22. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) [Done: December 18 2010]
23. Howrah-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam Express (weekly) [Not announced in the budget but announced during the budget discussion in the parliament.] [Done: February 2011]

The above numbers are in Crores of Rupees. In the above "C" denotes Capital, "F" denotes Capital Fund and "R" denotes RVNL funding. The notation ** above means that data is missing.

Now lets do a projection to the future.

(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 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: 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.

Here we consolidate the announcements in the 2009 interim budget, in the July 2009 budget and in Lok sabha and Rajya Sabha during the debates after the budget announcements. (See also this news report regarding some of the trains below.)

New trains:

1. Koraput-Rourkela Express via Rayagada (daily) – announced in Interim budget as well as July budget
2. Nabadwip Dham and Puri (weekly) – announced in Parliament after the interim budget
3. Bhubaneswar – Delhi Non Stop (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
4. Kamakhya Puri Express (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
5. Puri-Mumbai LTT Expresss via Sambalpur (weekly) – announced in Parliament after July budget
6. Puri -Surat Express via Sambalpur (weekly) – announced in Parliament after July budget
7. Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Express (daily) – announced in Parliament after July budget

New trains passing through Orissa:

1. Howrah Bangalore Superfast (Weekly) – announced in July Budget
2. Kolkata-Gandhidham Superfast Express (weekly) [Will it be via Rourkela – Jharsuguda?] – announced in Interim budget and July Budget.

Extension of Trains:

1. 8425/8426 Raipur  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)  – announced in July Budget
2. 8413/8414 Paradeep  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily) – announced in July Budget
3. 8415/8416 Puri  Kendujhargarh to Barbil (Daily) – announced in July Budget
4. 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express to Puri (Daily) – announced in July Budget

Increase in frequency:

1. 2443/2444 New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (from 2 days to 4 days)   – announced in interim as well as July budget
2. 2887/2888 Howrah-Puri express from weekly to Bi-weekly – announced in interim budget 

Some past announcements that have not yet been implemented: 

1. 2008-2009 Budget had announced Bhubaneswar-Sambalpur-Mumbai (twice a week). This train was introduced as 2879/2880, but so far it runs weekly, instead of the announced biweekly frequency. Even the 2008-09 time table lists it as a biweekly train.
2. 2007-2008 Budget had announced a weekly Bhubaneswar-Rameshawaram Express. This train was assigned the number 8495/8496 in the subsequent time table. But it is yet to be introduced.

The budget speech is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Speech_English_2009-10.pdf. The budget highlights is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Speech_English_2009-10_Highlight.pdf. The Pink book is at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/pink_index.htm. In it the Orissa related numbers are in:

• http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Works/ECoR/ECo-Assets.pdf and
• http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Budget_2009-10/Works/SE/SE-Assets.pdf.

As of now certain files are not there yet. The files that shows the profitability of various zones are the appendix files. (An example of a 2008-09 file is http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0809/budget-books/Works/ECOR/APPXI_0809_ECOR.pdf.) The similar files for 2009-10 are not there yet.

The Lok sabha debate pages are at http://164.100.24.209/newls/textofdebate.aspx. In there, look for 15th Lok Sabha and the debates during 2nd July 2009 to 7th August 2009.

The Rajya Sabha web page is http://rajyasabha.nic.in/.  The verbatim proceedings is available at http://164.100.47.5:8080/debatenew/show.aspx. In there, possibly in the archive, look for the 217th session.

Update 2:In the Lok Sabha the Rail Minister Mamta Banerjee made some statements regarding Orissa. They are:

• Page 68: Added Dhenkanal to the list of Adarsh stations
• Page 68: Granted a multi-functional complex to Talcher
• Page 66: Mentioned that Orissa will have 7 new trains, 4 extensions and 2 increases in frequency. (It is not clear what is the second increase in frequency other than the Rajdhani.)

Update: Some of the news reports (Breaking newsonline, Dharitri) mention three other new trains for Orissa. They say that the Rail minister mentioned them in Lok Sabha although they are not part of the budget speech. Those trains are:

• Puri-Mumbai LTT Expresss via Sambalpur
• Puri -Surat Express via Sambalpur
• Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Express (daily)

It seems Mamtadi is fond of Puri.

• Among the 50 stations that are to be developed as world class stations there are two stations in Orissa:
  • Bhubaneswar
  • Puri
• Among the 375 stations for inclusion as Adarsh stations (with basic facilities such as drinking water, adequate toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and dormitories especially for lady passengers, better signage and other basicfacilities are universally available) there are the following stations in Orissa:
  • Bolangir,
  • Jajpur Keonjhar Road,
  • Khurda Road,
  • Koraput Jn,
  • Rayagada,
  • Titlagarh Jn
• Multi-functional Complexes in station premises for providing rail users facilities  like shopping, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, PCO/STD/ISD/Fax booths, medicine & variety stores, budget hotels, underground parking etc. It is proposed to take up development of these Multi-functional Complexes in different parts of the country at 50 railway stations serving places of pilgrimage, industry and tourist interest in this year. Responsibility for development of these facilities will be entrusted to IRCON and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA). These will be in two stations in Orissa.
  • Bansapani,
  • Cuttack
• Ambulance services for passengers at 7 seven cities including in
  • Bhubaneswar
• Medical colleges are planned to be established attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP, to give higher education facilities to new generation of railway children. The locations include:
  • Bhubaneswar
• A new train service by the name Duronto with AC and non-AC sleeper will be introduced for non-stop point to point services between select cities throughout the country. This includes:
  • Bhubaneswar – Delhi Non Stop (Weekly)
• New Trains:
  • Howrah Bangalore Superfast (Weekly)
  • Kamakhya Puri Express (Weekly)
  • Koraput Rourkela Express (Daily) via Rayagada
• Extension of Trains
  • 8425/8426 Raipur  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)
  • 8413/8414 Paradeep  Bhubaneswar to Puri (Daily)
  • 8415/8416 Puri  Kendujhargarh to Barbil (Daily)
  • 2821/2822 Howrah-Bhubaneswar Dhauli Express to Puri (Daily)
• Increase in Frequency
  • 2443/2444 New Delhi- Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express from 2 days to 4 days
• 250 km has been fixed for construction of new lines in 2009-2010
  • Lanjigarh-Bhawanipatna of Lanjigarh-Junagarh
• During 2009-2010, a target of completion of gauge conversion of about 1300 km has been fixed. This includes
  • Parlakimidi-Gunupur of Naupada-Gunupur
  • Baripada-Bangriposi of Rupsa-Bangriposi
• Propose to process the following rail connectivity proposals
  • Banspani-Bimalgarh-Barsuan
  • Bolangir-Nawapara Road
  • Digha-Jaleswar-Puri
  • Dantewara-Malkangiri
  • Sambalpur-Behrampur

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.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Ministry of Railways has decided to extend the Howrah-Sambalpur Ispat Express up to Titlagarh from March 1. The train will leave Sambalpur at 4.50 pm and arrive at Titlagarh at 8.20 pm. In the return direction, the train will leave Titlagarh at 5.20 am and arrive at Sambalpur at 8.35 am to go Howrah. The train will stop at Hirakud, Bargarh Road, Barpali, Balangir and Saintala between Sambalpur and Titlagarh. The timings and stoppages of the train between Sambalpur and Howrah will remain unchanged.

With this extension and the proposed new train between Koraput and Rourkela, there will be 4 daily trains in the Titlagarh-Balangir-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Rourkela segment of western Orissa. The other two are Koraput Howrah express and Dhanbad-Allepey express. In addition there are the Yeshavantpur-Hatia (biweekly) and Yeshavantpur-Tata (weekly) express.

The Titlagarh-Sambalpur sector has two more daily trains: Raipur-Bhubaneswar express and Rayagada-Sambalpur Express.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Indopia:

Passengers to Kolkata would now have as many as three Rajdhanis to choose from, with the Railways deciding to extend Bilaspur Rajdhani up to Howrah with immediate effect.

At present, Howrah and Sealdah Rajdhanis connect Delhi to Kolkata.

However, the extension will be on an experimental basis for four months a release issued by Northern Railway said.

The extension would also benefit the people of the steel city of Rourkela, located between Bilaspur and Howrah, as they had been for long demanding a Rajdhani linking to the national capital.

The proposed revised timings are:

2441 (From HWH Friday and Saturday w.e.f 27.02)

HWH: 21 25
TATA: 01 00
ROU: 03 15
Brajrajnagar: 05 02
Raigarh: 05 52
Champa: 07 05
BSP: 08 40
NDLS: 06 05

2442 (From New Delhi Wednesday and Thursday w.e.f 25.02)

NDLS: 20 40
BSP: 17 20
Champa: 18 12
Raigarh: 19 19
Brajrajnagar: 20 17
ROU: 22 20
TATA: 00 50
HWH: 04 30

Composition: AC1: 1, AC2: 3, AC3: 4, PC: 1.

Note that Brajrajnagar is 12 kms from Jharsuguda Jn and 60 km from Sambalpur.

Update: A new train and another frequency increase may be in the offing. They are:

• Increased frequency of Vizag-Hzt Nizamuddin Samata Express that goes via Rayagada and Titlagarh.

• A new train between Nabadwip Dham and Puri.

Following is excerpted from http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0910/ENGLISH-Speech-0910.pdf.

New Trains:

• Koraput-Rourkela Express via Rayagada (daily)
• Kolkata-Gandhidham Superfast Express (weekly) [Will it be via Rourkela – Jharsuguda?]

Increase in frequency:

• 2443/2444 New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express (from 2 days to 4 days)   Last year 2421/2422 New Delhi – Bhubaneswar Rajdhani express frequency was increased from 2 days to 3 days. So when this years proposed frequency increase is implemented there will be a Rajdhani between Bhubaneswar and New Delhi every day of the week.
• 2887/2888 Howrah-Puri express from weekly to Bi-weekly