Angul-Sukinda Rail Line Opens Providing Direct Link Between Iron Ore-Rich Areas & Industries In Odisha

Angul: Goods rains have started chugging down the 92.825-km-long Broad Gauge Single Electrified Railway Line section between Budhapanka station in Angul and Baghuapala near Sukinda in Jajpur under Khurda Road Railway Division of East Coast Railway (ECoR).

ECoR General Manager Manoj Sharma  congratulated Angul-Sukinda Railway Ltd (ASRL), a SPV incorporated on February 20, 2009, by the Ministry of Railways through RVNL for construction and maintenance of line, for the accomplishment.

The Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) Committee nominated by ECoR General Manager comprising of Chief Safety Officer (CSO), Chief Track Engineer (CTE), Chief Electrical Distribution Engineer (CEDE) and Chief Signaling Engineer (CSE) of ECoR along with Chief Project Manager (CPM-II) of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and other officials of Headquarters and Khurda Road Division inspected the new BG single line on February 21 and submitted their report on February 23.

Earlier, Commissioner Railway Safety (CRS) had suggested for modification of the station yards, which has now been complied with all safety angles to run goods trains, the ECoR General Manager informed.

Based on the compliance to SAG Inspection Report and after perusal of various documents/certificates, the General Manager under the powers delegated by Railway Board sanctioned opening of the newly-built line for goods traffic up to a maximum permissible speed of 65 Kmph, subject to the observance of all the permanent and temporary speed restrictions in force or those which may be imposed from time to time.

The new rail-line provides a direct link between iron-ore rich areas of Odisha (Joda-Barbil) to steel and sponge iron industries in Angul. It will provide a shorter and congestion free alternative route between coal-mining belt of Talcher to coal-based thermal power plant in Kalinganagar Industrial Complex.

This will also be in close proximity to the steel plants in Angul region, NALCO and a cluster of industries located in Kalinganagar of the State. Dispatch of finished products of steel plants from Kalinganagar complex to destinations in Mumbai and Delhi via Talcher-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda will also be shorter and cheaper via the new alignment as compared with the route via Kharagpur.

The project was funded through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode as envisaged in Concession Agreement signed between the Ministry of Railways and ASRL on May 14, 2010. The funding pattern was through equity-participation from stake holders and debt raised from the open market.