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Not 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.

1. Barbil: Daily express train to Puri and a daily express train to Kolkata. A daily passenger train to Tatanagar.
   1. Kendujhargarh: The train to Puri passes through Kendujhargarh. In addition there is a fast passenger between Kendujhargarh and Bhubaneswar 5 days a week.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Paradeep: Daily express train to Puri (via Bhubaneswar) and three passenger trains to Cuttack.
5. Gunupur: A daily passenger between Gunupur and Puri (via Bhubaneswar).
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.

Following is from a report in Pioneer.

The railway authorities after inspecting number of places in KBK districts and not finding them suitable have identified Santipalli at Berhampur in Ganjam district to set up the proposed rail wagon factory.

According to sources, a rail wagon factory is to be set up in KBK districts of Odisha as per the 2010-2011 Railway Budget. Accordingly, the railway authorities visited Kalahandi, Kesinga, Narla Road, Lanjigarh Road, and Bhawanipatna Railway Station area to find out 100 acres of land adjacent to the rail track and submit a feasible report to the Government of Odisha for acquisition of land. However, the railway administration could not find a suitable place for the purpose and moved to coastal districts for feasible locations for wagon factory.

The Ganjam district administration and rail officers made a joint inspection in the district and found a place at Santipalli near Jagannathpur Railway Station of Berhampur. The State Government has approved to provide the 100 acre of land at Santipalli and the proposal has been sent to Railway Ministry, for their final consent for further plan of action. The project would be taken up in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

This is ridiculous. I can not believe that there is no suitable land near the railway track in Kalahandi.

Moreover the Railway minister has already said that he can give another wagon factory if a suitable land is found in Kalahandi. So even if some powerful person wants to have a wagon factory in Ganjam, that can still happen while a wagon factory is made in Kalahandi. So the Odisha government should take up on the Railway minister’s offer immediately. 

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.

The above can be obtained by looking at the appropriate pages of this year’s pink book and last year’s pink book. Following are images cut from both.

From 2011-12 Pink book

Following are some observations based on the above:

1. Khurda Rd-Balangir: It seems 115.8 crores is expected to be spent on Khurda-Balangir line during March 2010-March 2011. This is close to the 120 crores that was allocated in the 2010-11 budget. So I am not sure why the budget was slashed to 60 crores. My guess is that last year they spent the money in building on the land they had already acquired. Now they need to acquire more new land to build and so until enough new land is acquired a lot of money could not be allocated for construction. The blame here lies with the railways for not anticipating in advance and not buying enough land in the previous years. The Odisha government should have also monitored this and prodded ECOR to buy enough land in advance. A bit of good news is that the budget speech explicitly mentions that Khurda Rd-Begunia will be completed this year.
2. Talcher-Bimlagarh: Last year the allocation was 50 crores. However, it is anticipated that 99.4-37.98= 61.42 crores will be spent on this during March 2010-March 2011. For the 2011-12 the allocation is 66 crores, and the budget speech explicitly mentions that some part of this line will be completed this year.
3. Angul – Sukinda: In 2010-11 the allocation was 22.5 crores, out of which only 12.7 crores is expected to be spent during March 2010-March 2011. For the 2011-12 the allocation is a substantial one consisting of 27 crores (RVN) plus 169.15 crores (PPP). It is not clear where the PPP money is coming from. If it is from the Odisha government or Odisha industries then railways should not take credit for it.
4. Haridaspur – Paradeep: In 2010-11 the allocation was 101 crores, out of which 79.6 cores (=251.2-171.6 ) is expected to be spent during March 2010-March 2011. For the 2011-12 the allocation is a substantial one consisting of 10 crores (RVN) plus 169.15 crores (PPP). It is not clear where the PPP money is coming from. If it is from the Odisha government or Odisha industries then railways should not take credit for it.
5. Daitari – Banspani: I am not sure what the deal here is. This line is supposed to be complete. I don’t know why there is a 70 crores budget for this.
6. Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh: This line has an allocation of 10 crores and will be completed this year. Once that is done  Ispat Express should be extended to Lanjigarh Rd or Bhawnipatna and a Bhawniaptana – Bhubaneswar express should be introduced.

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Now let us move to SER.

1. Jaleswar – Digha (41 kms): Last year 20 crores were allocated to it. But only 2 crores is expected to be spent during March 2010-March 2011. For the 2011-12 the allocation is a substantial one consisting of 150 crores. Also due to some modification in the plan the overall estimated cost has gone up from 255.11 crores to 533.63 crores. The modification includes a segment in West Bengal. It is not clear how much of the allocated 150 crores will be spent in the Odisha part and how much in the newly tagged on West Bengal part.

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The overall new lines budget for 2011-12 is 733.4 crores. But if one takes out the PPP part then it is only 393 crores. And then, if the Jaleswar-Digha part is West Bengal centric and one takes 150 crores for it out then the total reduces to only 243 crores. Is Mamata Banerjee hoodwinking Odisha here?

See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3272 for how it compares with previous years budgets. See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/4638 for a tabular listing of the new line budget over the years. See http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/3202 for an old projection to the future.

This project was approved in 1993-1994 and since then very little progress has been made. In the 2010-11 railway budget, for the first time, there was a decent allocation of 120 crores towards this project.

Before the 2011-12 railway budget there were a lot of news that out of the allocated 120 crores 100 crores was returned due to non-utilization.

This seems to be a false news.

If one looks at the Pink Book at http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,1,304,366,539,1056 one can note that by the end of the 2010-11 outlay this project would have spent 211.65 crores. (See below. There seems to be some typo on the total amount needed for the project.)

In last year’s Pink Book  that number till the end of 2009-10 outlay was 105.8 crores. (See above.) In other words between 2010 March and 2011 March 221.65-105.8 = 115.85 crores would be spent. This is close to the 120 crores that was allocated.

So unless I am missing something, the politicians are spreading misinformation and actually harming the cause of the Khurda Balangir line. Instead of making false claims that 100 crores was returned (and only 20 crores was spent) and blaming the state and central government, they should have stated that 115.85 of the 120 crores was spent; and now that both the state government and ECOR have shown the ability to spend almost 120 crores in the project, at least a similar amount should be allocated in this year’s budget.

Instead, for petty political gains they spread the wrong news and the aam janta who does not know the truth will think if the authorities could only spend 20 crores out of the allocated 120 crores, then its perfectly justified for the Rail budget to have only 60 crores for the project this year.

Unfortunately, we have bad politicians and many spreaders of false news and that has time and again harmed Odisha’s cause.

Having said all that, the Railway Board knew that 115.85 crores of the alloted 120 crores was going to be spent by March 2011. They should not have reduced the allocations to 60 crores for this year.

 

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Now following are some excerpts from a report in Expressbuzz.com. It shows the misinformation being spread.

 

In lieu of the return of last year’s Rs.100 crore, she has sanctioned Rs.60 crore. Last year, Rs.120 crore was allocated out of which, Rs.100 crore was reportedly returned due to non-utilisation.

An earlier report, linked in a kddf posting, hopefully, gives some useful information on the land acquisition status.

… from Khurda Road to Balangir will pass through 32 bridges including the longest one over river Tel, 403 minor bridges, 11 tunnels — the longest being 1400 meters, besides 124 level crossings and 17 stations.

Land acquisition sources said land in 13 out of the 16  villages on Balangir side have been acquired. Paucity of funds has however hampered land acquisition in the remaining three villages, said Ganeswar Kanhar, Land Acquisition Officer.In 2007, compensation for 64 acres of land was given in eight villages.

Since then only six more villages could be surveyed as the proposal for land acquisition was kept pending till the first quarter of 2010. While the civil work would be taken up only after acquisition of land for the 50 km track is complete,  till now nearly 35 km is yet to be acquired. Kanhar said 36 km of civil work has been started on  Khurda side.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Orissadiary.

217 Puri-Palasa passenger which is leaving Puri at 07.50a.m and arriving Palasa at 03.25p.m will leave Palasa at 04.30p.m and will arrive at Paralakhemundi at 06.45p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 218 Paralakhemundi-Puri Passenger will leave Paralakhemundi at 07.45a.m and will arrive at Puri at 09.05p.m.

This train will stop at Pundi, Rauthpuram, Naupada, Tekkali, Pedasana, Temburu, Ganguvada, and Pathapatnam between Palasa and Paralakhemundi. The timings of 217/218 Puri-Paralakhemundi-Puri passenger will remain unchanged between Puri & Palasa. The train will run as a special train on the flagging off day of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Puri w.e.f 19th December and from Paralakhemundi w.e.f 20th Dec’2010.

…

8447 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Hirakhand Express, which is leaving Bhubaneswar at 07.35p.m and arriving Koraput at 09.45a.m on the next day, will leave Koraput at 10.05a.m and will arrive at Jagadalpur at 12.40p.m in the extended portion. In the return direction, 8448 Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will leave Jagadalpur at 03.30p.m and will arrive at Bhubaneswar at 08.25a.m on the next day.

This train will stop at Jeypore and Jagadalpur in the extended portion. The timings of 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express will remain unchanged between Bhubaneswar and Koraput. The train will run as a special train on the day of flagging off of the extended portion and the regular run will be from Bhubaneswar on 18th December and from Jagadalpur from 19th Dec’2010.

Following is an excerpt from http://orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=22808.

As announced in the last Railway Budget, Ministry of Railways has decided to introduce three new trains in East Coast Railway jurisdiction. Puri-Howrah-Puri daily Duronto Express will be introduced from 7th December 2010; Sambalpur-Howrah-Sambalpur weekly Express from 10th December & Puri-Digha-Puri weekly express will be introduced from 11th December 2010.
 
2278 Puri-Horah Duronto Super Fast Express will leave Puri at 06.45a.m and will arrive at Howrah at 01.45p.m. In the return direction, 2277 Howrah-Puri Duronto Super Fast Express will leave Howrah at 02.25p.m and will arrive at Puri at 09.40p.m. This train has One AC Chair Car, 11 Second Class Chair Car and Two Guard vans having no intermediate stoppage.
 
2586 Sambalpur-Howrah weekly Super Fast express via Angul & Bhadrak will leave Sambalpur at 07.55p.m. on Fridays and will arrive at Howrah at 07.05a.m. on the next days. Similarly, in the return direction, 2585 Howrah-Sambalpur weekly Super Fast express via Bhadrak and Angul will leave Howrah at 08.55p.m on Saturdays and will arrive at Sambalpur at 08.10a.m. on the following days. This train has One AC-2 tier, One AC-3 tier, Six Sleeper Classes, Six General Second Class Coaches and Two Guard cum Luggage vans in its composition having stoppages at Rairakhol, Boinda, Angul, Talcher Road, Dhenkanal, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur between Sambalpur and Howrah.
 
2580 Puri-Digha weekly Super Fast express will leave Puri at 11.35p.m on Saturdays and will arrive at Digha at 09.30a.m on the next days. In the return direction, 2579 Digha Puri weekly Super Fast express will leave Digha at 05.15p.m. on Sundays and will arrive Puri at 03.20a.m. on the following days. This train has One AC-2 tier, One AC-3 tier, Eight Sleeper Classes, Six General Second Class Coaches and Two Guard cum Luggage vans in its composition having stoppages at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore, Kharagpur, Panskura, Tamluk and Kanthi between Puri & Digha. But presently this train will have One AC-2 tier, One AC-3 tier, Five Sleeper Classes, Three General Second Class Coaches and Two Guard cum Luggage vans in its composition.

I am expecting the Sambalpur-Howrah via Angul weekly express to be made daily in the coming years as it newly connects Sambalpur, Angul,Talcher and Dhenkanal to Jajpur Keonjhar Road, Bhadrak, Balasore and Kharagpur and Angul,Talcher and Dhenkanal to Howrah.

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.)

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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]

Doubling	06-07	07-08	08-09	09-10	10-11	Spent  until 09-10	Remai ning	Total
Cuttack – Talcher – Paradeep 2nd bridge over Mahanadi & Birupa	39.9R	64R	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done
Rajathgarh -Nergundi 28 km	**	**	.35F	0.1C	0.3C	23.4C 60F	0	23.7C 60F
Rahama – Paradeep    23 km	**	**	.5F	0.2C	0.1C	65.6C 13.1F	1.94C	67.7C 13.1F
Nergundi – Cuttack – Raghunathpur 43 km	**	**	.1F	0.5C	0.33C	141.9C 37.5F	0.44C	142.7C 37.5 C
Titlagarh – Lanjigarh Rd 47 km	**	**	7F	1C	0.1C	99.9C 64.4F	3.12C	103.1C 64.4F
Khurda Rd – Puri Ph 1  i.e. up to Delang 15.3 km	**	**	2F		0.5C	37.0C 31.6F	0.4C	37.9C 31.6F
Sambalpur – Rengali     22.7 km	**	**	2F	10C	5C	27.8C 65.6F	8.12C	40.9C 65.6F
Cuttack- Barang   12km	40.2R	55R	35R	55R	20R	130.5R	19.6R	170.1R
Khurda- Barang 3rd line 35 km	46.6R	88R	125R	65R	40R	142.4R	29.5R	211.9R
Rajathgarh – Barang         20 km	72.7R	86R	125R	75R	21.2R	212.3R	8.5R	242R
Jharsuguda – Rengali     25.6 km	**	**	45F	35C	23.7C	35C 30.5F	60.8C	119.5C 30.5F
Sambalpur – Titlagarh    182 km	**	**	65F	3C	35R	75F 1.2R	3C 648.5R	3C    75 F 684.7R
Raipur – Titlagarh    203 km	**	**	65F	3.2C	25R	66F  1R	80.5C 519.1R	80.5C 66F 545.1R
Bansapani – Tomka – Daitari- Jakhapura  180 km	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	150R	0.01R	992.6R	1142.6 R
Delang – Puri 28.7 km	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	2C	0 NEW	131.7C	133.7C
Talcher – Kerejanga 31.41 kms	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	2C	0 NEW	124.4C	126.4C
Kerejanga – Handapa 32.47kms	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	2C	0 NEW	133.3C	135.3C
Sambalpur – Talcher 174.11 kms	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	2C	0 NEW	677.3C	679.3C
Padapahar – Bansapani	**	**	70F	26C	4C	30C 103.4F	7C	41C 103.4F
Barbil – Barjamda 10km	**	**	40F	20C	12C	16C 18.7FB	4.5C	32.5C 18.7F
Bimlagarh – Dumetra	**	**	50F	50C	20C	25C  7F	47C	92C    7 F
Bansapani – Jaruli    9km	**	**	4F	40C	30C	1F	59.8C	89.8C 1F
Champajharan – Bimlagarh 21km	NEW	NEW	NEW	NEW	1C	0 NEW	148.9C	149.9C
Total on doubling	293.16	449.5	636	389	396.2
Doubling	06-07	07-08	08-09	09-10	10-11	Spent until 09-10	Rema ining	Total

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.

 

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Now lets do a projection to the future.

 

	This year	Remai ning	2011-  12	2012- 13	2013- 14	2014- 15	2015- 16	2016- 17	2017- 18	2018- 19
Sambalpur – Rengali     22.7 km	5 C	8.12 C	8
Cuttack- Barang   12km	20 R	19.6 R	20
Khurda- Barang 3rd line 35 km	40 R	29.5 R	30
Rajathgarh – Barang         20 km	21.2 R	8.5 R	9
Jharsuguda – Rengali     25.6 km	23.7 C	60.8 C	31	30
Sambalpur – Titlagarh    182 km	35 R	3 C 648.5 R	35	60	70	80	110	120	120	55
Raipur – Titlagarh    203 km	25 R	80.5 C 519.1 R	25	40	60	80	110	120	120	45
Bansapani – Tomka – Daitari- Jakhapura  180 km	150 R	992.6 R	150	150	160	160	170	180	30
Delang – Puri 28.7 km	2 C	131.7 C	20	50	62
Talcher – Kerejanga 31.41 kms	2 C	124.4 C	20	30	35	40
Kerejanga – Handapa 32.47kms	2 C	133.3 C	20	30	35	50
Sambalpur – Talcher 174.11 kms	2 C	677.3 C	20	30	40	60	100	110	150	170
Padapahar – Bansapani	4 C	7 C	7
Barbil – Barjamda 10km	12 C	4.5 C	5
Bimlagarh – Dumetra	20 C	47 C	20	27
Bansapani – Jaruli    9km	30 C	59.8 C	30	30
Champajharan – Bimlagarh 21km	1 C	148.9 C	20	20	40	40	30
Others that are added					3	5	5	5	125	285
Total	396.2		470	497	505	515	525	535	545	555
	This Year	Remai ning	2011-  12	2012- 13	2013- 14	2014- 15	2015- 16	2016- 17	2017- 18	2018- 19

 

Following is from Dharitri.

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The above article writes about the analysis of ex-MP Braja Tripathy. His main complaint is that Indian Railways makes 10% of its revenue (about 6000 crores) from Odisha but has spent only 2% of the budget in Odisha; 836 crores out of 41,426 crores. He also says that in 2008-09 the Rail budget had 948.34 crores for Odisha and since then while the revenue and planned expenses have increased 10-15%, Odisha’s rail budget has decreased by 115 crores. 

Mr. Tripathy has a very good point. We made similar points in our page http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ and in the article http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/1550.

However, I partly agree with the comment made by Mr. Prasanna Mishra; this year’s allotment of 120 crores for the Khurda-Balangir line is pretty good. The Odisha government must facilitate land acquisition so that the full 120 crores is spent this year. That way it can ask for more in the next budget and possibly get it. Otherwise next year Khurda-Balangir will get a smaller allocation and we will be back to square one.

New Lines	2006- 07	2007- 08	2008- 09	2009- 10	2010- 11	Spent until 2009- 10	Remai ning	Total
Khurda- Balangir (289 kms)	23	20	32.34	28.07	120	105.8	474.2	700 Cap
Talcher- Bimlagarh (154 kms)	10	15	10	10	50	37.98	722.8	810.8 Cap
Haridas pur- Paradip (82 kms)	44	20	80	70	101 RVN	21.9 Cap 171.61 RVN	299.83 RVN	21.9 Cap 572.4 RVN
Angul- Sukinda Rd (98.7 kms)	20		60	75	22.5 RVN	20.88 Cap 13.5 RVN	581.62 RVN	20.88 Cap 617.6 RVN
Lanjigarh Rd – Junagarh (56 kms)	19	12	35	30	60	169.31	0.69	170 cap
Daitari – Bansa pani (155 kms)	155.6		20	60	75 RVN	367 cap 671.85 RVN	186.56 RVN	367 Cap 933.4 RVN
Jaleswar- Digha (41 kms)			Did not exist	Did not exist	20 (new)	Did not exist	235.11	255.1 Cap
Buramara – Chakulia with upgrad ation  of Rupsa – Buramara (125 kms)					under progress as an RVNL SPV.			466.5 RVN
Gunupur- Theruvali (79 kms) (Naupada  – Gunupur 90 kms gauge conver  sion is now complete)	N-G 34	N-G 25			Already surveyed. But listed as a soc. desirable project.  Odsiha should push hard for this to be designa ted as a port conn. (to Gopalpur port) project and taken up via RVN SPV.		Odisha govt. has also indicated to push this as a PPP project.
Total allocation on new lines (NL) and gauge conver sion (GC)	Rupsa – B 15.9 Other – 4.1 Total – 325.6 crores	Rupsa – B 35 other – 5 Total – 132 crores	244.34 + 65 = 309.34	275.07+ 36.14 = 311.21	ECOR NL – 428.7 ECOR GC – 5 SER NL – 20 SER GC – 1 Total = 454.7	2004 – 199 crores
New Lines	2006 – 07	2007- 08	2008- 09	2009- 10	2010- 11	Spent until 2009- 10	Remain ing	Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(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.

	This Yr	Remai ning	2011- 12	2012- 13	2013- 14	2014- 15	2015- 16	2016- 17	2017- 18
Khurda – Balangir	120	474.2	130	130	140	100 Done	Done	Done	Done
Talcher – Bimlagarh	50	722.8	100	120	130	140	150	100 Done	Done
Haridaspur – Paradip	101	300	100	100	100 Done	Done	Done	Done	Done
Angul – Sukinda	22.5	582	40	60	80	100	120	150	50  Done
Daitari – Bansapani	75	187	75	85	20  Done	Done	Done	Done	Done
Jaleswar – Digha	NEW     20	235	30	30	30	60	80  Done	Done	Done
Buramara – Chakulia	0	467	NEW 20	50	50	120	120	120 Done	Done
Gunupur – Theruvali	0	450 (est)	0	NEW 20	50	50	100	120	120 Done
Other new lines: Puri Konark; Nabrangpur-Jeypore; Nabrangpur-Junagarh; Jeypore – Malkangiri; Malkangiri – Bhadrachal am	Lanjigarh Junagarh 60 Done		0	0	NEW1 (1) 20	NEW2 (1) 40  (2) 20	NEW3 (1) 40 (2) 30 (3) 20	NEW4 (1) 60 (2) 60 (3) 40 (4) 20	NEW5 (1)140 (2)130 (3)120 (4) 90 (5) 20
Total	455		495	595	620	630	650	670	670

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

Update on March 9 2010: As per http://www.khaskhabar.com/daily-news.php?storyid=23144 Mamata Banerjee announced 6 more trains in the Lok Sabha. One of them will pass through Odisha. That one is:

• HWH-Sri Satya Sai Prasanti Nilayam (weekly).

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Following are excerpted from the 2010-11 Railway Budget Speech and the Pink Book.

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Page 5: In line with our Vision, for the first time ever we are planning a major jump to complete 1,000 route-kms of new lines in one year with our limited resources. This is a path-breaking step, considering the annual average of 180 route kms of new lines in the last 58 years and 219 route-kms in the last five years. If we can achieve this target of 1,000 route-kms, we can also reach the Vision 2020 goal of 25,000 kms.

The House would be glad to know that of the 120 new trains, extensions and increase in frequencies announced, 117 would be flagged off by the end of March 2010. The remaining three would be started on completion of gauge conversion works.

Work has been initiated in all the 67 Multi-functional Complexes (MFCs). Development of Adarsh Stations has also started in phases.

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Page 6: Adarsh Stations: Angul, Belpahar, Doikallu, Jakhapura, Jharsuguda, Lanjigarh Road, Lapanga, Meramandali, Raghunathpur, Rengali, Titlagarh Jn.

Page 7: another 93 Multi-functional Complexes – Balasore, Brahmapur, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Sambalpur

Page 12: Outpatient Departments (OPD) and diagnostic centres – Balasore, Balugaon, Bhadrak, Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji, Kesinga, Khurda Rd, Koraput Jn, Rayagada, Rourkela, Sambalpur Jn, Titlagarh

Page 13: Secondary-level General Speciality Hospitals –  Bhadrak, Brahmapur, Jajpur Keonjhar Rd, Jharsuguda, Kantabanji,  Koraput Jn, Rayagada

Page 14: Tertiary-level Multi-speciality Hospitals – Kantabanji

[In case some may wonder, why Kantabanji, a town of 22K is listed above: My guess is it is because Kantabanji is the constituency of Santosh Singh Saluja, Congress; a senior leader of the opposition in the Orissa legislative assembly.]

Page 15: The railways will also set up four multidisciplinary training centres at Cuttack, Coochbehar, Malda and Jabalpur.

Page 17: set up five state-of-the-art wagon factories in JV/PPP mode at Secunderabad, Barddhaman, Bhubaneshwar/Kalahandi, Guwahati and Haldia.

[It would be great if the above happens in Kalahandi. Kudos to Dr. Digambara Patra and Kalahandi MP Bhakta Das for their efforts on this.]

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Page 20: For the remaining four corridors, that is north-south (Delhi, Haryana, UP, MP, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), east-west (West Bengal, Jharkahnd, Orissa, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra), east-south (West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh) and south-south (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa), Preliminary Engineering-cum-Traffic Survey (PETS) will be taken up this
year.

Madam, I had declared DFC as the “Diamond Rail Corridor” project of the Indian Railways. On the lines of DFC, we are now planning to go in for Dedicated Passenger Corridor (DPC), which I declare as the “Golden Rail Corridor” of the Indian Railways.

Therefore, I propose to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these projects.

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Page 24: In my last budget speech, I had highlighted the need to take up socially desirable projects connecting backward areas. Many proposals for such connectivity have been pending for a long time. It is proposed to update the surveys for the following lines and thereafter these will be processed through Planning Commission for necessary approvals:

Navrangpur-Jeypore

Phulbani-Berhampur

Puri-Konark

Raipur-Jharsuguda

Gunupur-Theruvali

Jeypore-Malkangiri

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Page 26: New Line Surveys

Talcher-Phulbani-Lanjigarh

Junagarh-Jaypore-Malkangiri-Bhadrachalam

[The above needs to be pushed hard. It will bring connectivity to the hinterlands and Maoist belt of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.]

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Page 29: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Lanjigarh – Bhawanipatna of Lanjigarh – Junagarh

[Why no train has been announced to ply on this line?]

Page 30: The sections covering 1021 kms proposed to be completed in 2010-11 are:

Bhawanipatna – Junagarh of Lanjigarh – Junargarh

Khurda – Begunia of Khurda – Bolangir

[Next year the Bhubaneswar – Khurda passenger should be extended to Begunia]

Page 31: The following new line projects have been included in the Budget:- Digha-Jaleshwar

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Gauge Conversion: The sections which have either been completed or will be completed during 2009-10 are:

Baripada – Bangriposi of Rupsa – Bangriposi

[Why extension of Baripada express to Bangiriposi was not proposed?]

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Page 33: During the current year doubling of about 500 km is likely to be completed. The target for doubling of 700 km has been fixed for 2010-11. The following new doubling works have been included in the Budget:

Talcher-Sambalpur

Delang-Puri

[The above two are important; especially the later as many trains are now being extended to Puri.]

Champajharan-Bimlagarh

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Page 35: Port Connectivity 120. In order to promote industrial activity, the State Governments and the Centre are giving thrust on the development of the ports. Ports are expected in the States of Gujarat – Porbander, Sutrapada, Dholera, Mahuva, Hazira, Tuna; Maharashtra – Revas, Dharamtar, Dighi; Karnataka – Karwar; Kerala – Azhikkal, Beypore, Thalassery; Orissa – Astranga, Chudamani, Gopalpur; Andhra Pradesh – Vodarevu, Nizampatnam; West Bengal – Sagar Kapil Muni, Haldia.

Railways will welcome participation under PPP for providing rail connectivity to such ports.

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I am happy to inform the Hon’ble Members that Indian Railways would be completing about 2,300 route kms of electrification in the first three years of the XI Plan against the target of 3500 kms for the five year period. Another 2,000 kms are planned in the remaining two years.

The following sections are under active consideration:

Vizianagram-Raigada

In addition to above, feasibility studies for the following sections will be undertaken:

Angul-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda

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Page 39 – The following unreserved trains are being proposed for the common people:

ii. Guwahati-Mumbai(Weekly) via Howrah-Tatanagar-Jharsuguda-Bilaspur-Nagpur

Bharat Tirth Trains

139. To support government’s effort of promoting tourism in our country, Railways will launch special tourist trains called “Bharat Tirth” connecting popular tourist sites in different parts of the country

ii. Howrah-Chennai- Puducherry- Madurai – Rameshwaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore – Mysore – Chennai-Howrah

iii. Howrah- Vizag- Hyderabad- Araku- Howrah

[Why no mention of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Chilika in the above two?]

ix. Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad

Page 40: Duronto Services

Pune –Howrah AC (Bi- weekly)

Daytime: Puri – Howrah

[Either is not much use for people of Odisha. Hopefully the Duronto concept will soon be revamped to include a few more stops – especially the technical stops – on the way. May be they can say Duranto’s will have at most 2 stops other than the start and end point. In case of Howrah-Puri Duranto the stops could be Bhubaneswar and Kharagpur with the restriction that from HWH-Puri it can pick passengers only at KGP and only drop at BBS and in the reverse directions it can pick passengers at BBS and only drop passengers at KGP.]

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Page 41: the following long distance new services are being proposed:

iv. Howrah-Katpadi(Vellore)-Puducherry Express via Bhubaneswar (Weekly)

x. Haldia – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xix. New Jalpaiguri – Chennai Express (Weekly)

xxii. Bhubaneswar-Pune Express (Weekly)

xxxiv. Sambalpur-Howrah Express (Weekly)

[The above may be routed through Angul.]

xlv. Howrah – Berhampur Express (Tri- weekly)

[I think the above refers to Berhampur in Orissa. Note that in the budget speech that same spelling is used in many places to refer to Berhampur in Odisha; for example, when mentioning the Phulbani-Berhampur line. There is a Berhampore Ct station in West Bengal but that is better reachable from Sealdah than HWH and there are many daily trains connecting Sealdah and Berhampore Ct. So a tri-weekly express in that route does not make sense. Now, if indeed this train is between HWH and Berhampur of Odisha then it should be extended to Gunupur and made a daily.]

xlvi. Baripada – Shalimar Intercity Express (Tri – weekly)

l. Howrah – Shirdi Express (Weekly)

li. Puri – Valsad Express (Weekly) via Katni- Bhopal – Vadodara

lii. Puri-Digha Express (Weekly)

Page 43: Madam, I would further like to assure the House that 2937/2938 Gandhidham–Howrah Express will be started by the 10th of March, 2010.

Passenger trains

xiii. Bhubaneswar-Khurda Road Passenger

[How many times a day the above will run?]

xxvi. Naupada-Gunupur Passenger (after gauge conversion)

Page 45:

Increase in frequency of trains

ix. 2807/2808 Visakhapatnam-Nizamuddin Samata Express from 3 days to 5 days

[Very useful for that part of Odisha.]

Extension of trains

x. 2831/2832 Bhubaneswer-Hatia Express to Dhanbad (Tri-weekly)

[Brings new connectivity to Dhanbad.]

xi. 8425/8426 Puri –Raipur Express to Durg

xii. 8447/8448 Bhubaneswar-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur

[Brings express train connectivity to Jeypore and Jagdalpur.]

xiii. 209/210 Puri-Dhenkanal Passenger to Talcher Road (Daily) 

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From the pink book: 

New Lines Construction Budget:

Daitari – Banspani (155 km)   75 crores

[In the 2009-10 budget 60 crores was allocated for it and the budget said only 10 crores more was needed for completion, the total budget estimation was 367.1 (cap) + 483.6 (RVN) crores, with 367.1 + 413.6 already spent. But suddenly in the 2010-11 budget the budget estimation is 367.1 + 933.41 (RVN). I.e., it has increased by about 450 crores, there is an allocation of 75 crores, and amount spent so far is 367.1+ 671.85 crores. I wonder if the Bansapani – Barbil proposal has been folded into this with post-budget money allocation and spending in 2009-10. Note that the survey of Bansapani – Barbil was approved in the 2008-09 budget and Odisha has been pushing for this. It would also benefit Indian Railways a lot as it will drastically shorten the time and distance between Barbil and Bansapani. Perhaps this was such a no-brainer that it was folded in to the original project as soon as the survey was done. ]

Lanjigarh Road – Junagarh (56 km) 60 crores

Khurda Road – Bolangir (289 km)  120 crores

Angul – Sukinda Road (98.7 km) 22.50 crores

Haridaspur – Paradeep (82 km) 101 crores

Talcher – Bimlagarh (154 km)  50 crores

Jaleswar – Digha (41 km) 20 crores

[Good allocation for Khurda-balangir and Talcher-Bimlagarh. The state government should gear up on land acquisition  so that the allocated money is actually spent] 

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Odisha should push 2-3 more trains to be announced during the debate. My top choices would be:

• Gunupur – Naupada- Berhampur – Bhubaneswar-Rourkela day time express
• Junagarh-Bhawanipatna-Bhubaneswar Express.
• Extend Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express to Junagarh.