The JharsugudaâÂÂVizianagaram line is a railway line in eastern India. It connects Jharsuguda, from Howrah on the HowrahâÂÂNagpurâÂÂMumbai line, and Titlagarh, which in turn is connected with Vizianagaram, from Howrah on the HowrahâÂÂChennai main line, and , from Howrah on the HowrahâÂÂNagpurâÂÂMumbai line. There are several branch lines, like the line connecting Rayagada with Koraput on the KothavalasaâÂÂKirandul line. The line traverses Western Odisha and connects the HowrahâÂÂNagpurâÂÂMumbai line with the HowrahâÂÂChennai main line. It covers small portions of Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
The JharsagudaâÂÂTitlagarh line starts from Jharsuguda, at the north western end of Odisha, on the TatanagarâÂÂBilaspur section of HowrahâÂÂNagpurâÂÂMumbai line, and goes through the Ib river valley. It crosses the Mahanadi River, downstream from Hirakud Dam. The railway track passes through hilly areas interspersed with valleys of the tributaries of the Mahanadi, the important amongst which are the Ong and Tel.
The RaipurâÂÂTitlagarhâÂÂVizianagaram line sets off from Raipur, in the fertile Mahanadi valley of Chhattisgarh, on the HowrahâÂÂNagpurâÂÂMumbai line. It passes through the rocky Mahasamund district of central Chhattisgarh before entering Odisha. It enters the plains of Nuapada district in western Odisha, then through the Eastern Ghats in southern Odisha, on to the coastal plains of Andhra Pradesh. It meets the HowrahâÂÂChennai main line at Vizianagaram.
The area covered by this line (including branch lines) is rich in mineral resources. There are two coalfields in the area with high quantum of reserves. According to Geological Survey of India, the Talcher Coalfield has reserves of 38.65 billion tonnes, the highest in India. Ib Valley Coalfield has reserves of 22.3 billion tonnes, the third highest in India.NTPC Limited has two power stations in Odisha, both are on this line â the 3000 MW Talcher Super Thermal Power Station and the 460 MW Talcher Thermal Power Station. NTPC has planned two more super thermal power plants of 1600 MW each at Darlipalli in Sundergarh district and Gajamara in Dhenkanal district. Sterlite Energy Ltd. (of the Vedanta group) has a 2400 MW Independent Power Plant at Jharsuguda.
NALCO operates bauxite mines on Panchampatmali Hills in Koraput district of Odisha. It has an alumina refinery at Damanjodi, and a smelter and a rolled products unit at Angul. It has an 8 x 120 MW captive power plant at Angul. Vedanta Aluminium Limited (of the Vedanta group) has an aluminium smelter and a 9x135 MW captive power plant at Jharsuguda. It has an alumina refinery and 3x30 MW captive power plant at Lanjigarh.Hindalco has a smelter and a 368 MW captive power plant at Hirakud.
Bhushan Steel Limited has a presence at Meramandali in Dhenkanal district of Odisha and is currently (as of 2012) implementing a backward integration project to set up an integrated steel plant of 2.3 million tonnes per annum capacity. It has plans to further raise the capacity of the plant. Bhusan Power and Steel Limited has a presence at Thelkoloi in Jharsaguda district of Odisha.
There is an ordnance factory at Badmal in Balangir district. A plant of the engine division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is located at Sunabeda, Koraput. It is on the Visakhapatnam-Kirandaul line.
The mainline of Bengal Nagpur Railway from Nagpur to Asansol was opened for goods traffic on 1 February 1891. Between 1893 and 1896, of the historical East Coast Railway was opened for traffic. In 1898âÂÂ99, two important lines of BNR, namely SiniâÂÂKharagpurâÂÂKolaghat and KharagpurâÂÂCuttack were opened, thereby linking BNR to the lines in southern India.
The SambalpurâÂÂTitalgarh Railway line is approximately Rs 11 crores of aid from the Japanese and 4.2 crores from the US. The foreign exchange Is coming out of the U.S. President Asian economic Development Fund and we are getting 20 million dollars. Japan has promised 8 million dollars. We have been promised all that and the purposes this foreign exchange will be used for rails and other materials. Formerly the line was to go from Sambalpur to Kantangunji. Subsequently, we found that Kantangunji via Bolangir and Titalgarh would be saving 20 miles, and investigations are going on those lines.
The VizianagaramâÂÂParvatipuram line was opened in 1908âÂÂ09 and an extension to Salur was built in 1913. The long ParvatipuramâÂÂRaipur line was completed in 1931. In 1922, the Talcher Coalfield was linked with the HowrahâÂÂChennai line.
In 1960, Indian Railway took up three projects: the KottavalasaâÂÂKoraputâÂÂJeyporeâÂÂKirandaul line (Dandakaranya Project), the TitlagarhâÂÂBolangirâÂÂJharsuguda Project and the RourkelaâÂÂKiriburu Project. All the three projects taken together were popularly known as the DBK Project or the Dandakaranya Bolangir Kiriburu Project. The SambalpurâÂÂTitlagarh line was opened to traffic in 1963.
The SambalpurâÂÂTalcher line was sanctioned in 1983 and was completed in 1998.
The KoraputâÂÂRayagada Rail Link Project was completed on 31 December 1998.
The Bengal Nagpur Railway was nationalized in 1944.Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of East Indian Railway Company east of Mughalsarai and the Bengal Nagpur Railway. In 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier. Amongst the new zones started in April 2003 were East Coast Railway and South East Central Railway. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway. Doubling of VizianagaramâÂÂGajapatinagaram completed by 31 March 2002. The doubling of BobbiliâÂÂGajapatinagaram completed by 30 June 2004.
The railway line, now (as of 2012) under construction from Balangir on the JharsugudaâÂÂTitlagrh line to Khurda Road on the HowrahâÂÂChennai main line, will pass through Subarnapur, Boudh and Nayagarh. It would require construction of 11 tunnels measuring 6.30 km in all, and around 435 bridges including one bridge over the Tel River.
In 1945 this rail link was first surveyed by the Bengal Nagpur Railway, which thought Bhubaneswar's link with some of the most backward undivided districts of Odisha, namely Balangir, Kalahandi, Koraput and Phulbani, to be important. The project actually got off in 1994.
The project was initially hit by delays in land acquisition and even after it got off progress was slow. According to Shivaji Patnaik, the veteran Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, "The construction for the project started way back in 1994. After 17 years, not even 36 km of line is developed."
A PhulbaniâÂÂBerhampur broad-gauge link is planned.
Another new line project lagging behind is the line connecting Bimlagarh on the RourkelaâÂÂBarsuan branch line and Talcher on the CuttackâÂÂSambalpur line, sanctioned in 2004âÂÂ05. This line when complete would reduce the distance between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar from 460 km (via Sambalpur) to 300 km.
Construction of the railway track linking Angul on the SambalpurâÂÂTalcherâÂÂBarang branch line to Sukinda Road on the PadapaharâÂÂJakhapura branch line is expected to be initiated in 2013, after clearing all land-acquisition related problems. This line is being taken up on the publicâÂÂprivate partnership (PPP) mode in partnership between Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, Government of Odisha, Jindal Steel and Power and Bhushan Power and Steel. The new railway track will provide connectivity between Talcher Coalfield and the PadapaharâÂÂJakhapura branch line with iron ore mines and upcoming industries. A number of mega steel projects are coming up in this region.
VizianagaramâÂÂTitlagarh third line project will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2,335.68 crore. The third line, which comes under the East Coast Railway is an alternative route to the over-burdened existing line. The length of the railway line will be 264.6 km. The project will be completed within five years i.e. 2021.
Several new lines have been planned. These include the TalcherâÂÂHindol RoadâÂÂBerhampurâÂÂGopalpur line, and the BargarhâÂÂNawapara Road line via Padampur.
Construction of the JharsugudaâÂÂBarpalli rail line is essential for transportation of coal from the Ib Valley Coalfield with a potential of 90 million tonnes per annum. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited will fund this project.
The KoraputâÂÂDamanjodi section was electrified in 1988âÂÂ89. The BarangâÂÂRajatgarhâÂÂMeramandoli section was electrified in 2002âÂÂ03. RajatgarhâÂÂKapilas Road was electrified in 2003âÂÂ04.
Electrification of the TitlagarhâÂÂSambalpurâÂÂJharsuguda and AngulâÂÂSambalpur sections were sanctioned in the Railway Budget for 2012âÂÂ13 dedicated to nation by Prime minister Narendra Modi on 15 January 2019. Traction work started in VizianagaramâÂÂJharsuguda section.
Electrification work from Vizianagaram to Titlagarh has been completed in 2017âÂÂ18. Also, single line electrification work was completed from TitlagarhâÂÂSambalpurâÂÂJharsuguda section just electric line doubling in TitlagarhâÂÂSambalpur section is also completed.
Doubling of several lines have been sanctioned in the budget for 2012âÂÂ13: JharsagudaâÂÂSambalpur, SambalpurâÂÂTitlagarh, RaipurâÂÂMahasamundâÂÂTitlagarh, SambalpurâÂÂTalcher, LapangaâÂÂBrundamal, AngulâÂÂKerejang, RajatgarhâÂÂBarang.
The Ministry of Coal has identified the Talcher area as one of the major areas for coal production. Additionally, a number of coal blocks are being developed by the private sector. About 100 million tonnes of incremental coal freight is expected. Doubling of TalcherâÂÂSambalpur, SambalpurâÂÂJharsuguda, SambalpurâÂÂTitlagarh and TitlagarhâÂÂMahasamundâÂÂRaipur has been sanctioned and work is in progress.
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