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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Oct 3 2011, 3:47 PM EDT (current) | cooldillip707 | 54 words added, 1 word deleted |
| Oct 3 2011, 3:41 PM EDT | cooldillip707 | 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted |
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LOCATION
Rourkela (Raurkela) Junction is located in Sundargarh district of North Western Odisha (Orissa) at an elevation of about 218.23 meters from the mean sea level. The co-ordiantes of longitude and latitude are 84.54 E and 22.25 N respectively,hence Rourkela is approximately 10 minutes ahead of the Indian Standard Time (IST). It is situated in the Chhota Nagpur plateau region which due to its rich mineral resources has always been a center of attraction for the investors of heavy industries and hence a large number of industries have also been set up here,including the massive steel project at Rourkela.
Rourkela Junction is currently functioning under the Chakradharpur Division (CKP) of the South Eastern Railway (SER) Zone,which is also referred as "Heart of South Eastern Railway". Rourkela is located on the main Howrah - Mumbai route which connects the two major metropolitan cities of India i.e. Kolkata and Mumbai.
HISTORY
Rourkela got a position in the railway map of India, with the commencing of the main trunk route passing through Chakradharpur Division was completed on 18th February 1891 when Goilkera-Jharsuguda section was opened. With the opening of Goilkera-Jharsuguda section the main line route of Bengal Nagpur was completed and the official function for the opening ceremony of main line from Asansol to Nagpur, presided by the Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne was held at Chakradharpur station on 3rd March 1891.
Rourkela established itself as a junction with the opening of the Rourkela-Biramitrapur route on 17th September 1926. Rourkela station was then a very small station in the revenue village of Mahulpalli.
After the independence of the country, Rourkela shot into prominence with the establishment of the first Public Sector Steel Project in the country, The Rourkela Steel Plant in 1954. An influx of workers was noticed from all the parts of the country and accordingly railway services on this route was increased. Rourkela has emerged from a small village station to an important junction of today.
THE PROGRESS
Owing to the importance of the place, the Government had introduced a lot of trains to Rourkela. The Bokaro-Madras Express was started in 1966 to link the steel cities of Bokaro and Rourkela to the south Indian metropolitan of Madras or Chennai. Another shuttle train from Tatanagar was linked with this train afterwards thus connecting the three steel cities to Madras. As Rourkela is situated on Howrah – Mumbai route ,it got the advantage of Howrah-Mumbai trains like Howrah-Mumbai Mail ,Geetanjali Express etc. In 1980’s as to a measure to reduce the load on Howrah bound trains, Railways introduced Howrah-Tatanagar Steel Express and Howrah-Rourkela Ispat Express, so as to have an effective commuting system between Kolkata and the steel cities.
Rourkela was connected to the state capital Bhubaneswar by Puri-Nizamuddin Utkal Express in the same course of time. In 1993, Sambalpur-Nizamuddin Hirakud Express was introduced and some coaches from Rourkela used to be connected to it, hence Rourkela had two trains to capital New Delhi.
In 1997,a fast connection with Howrah was established with the introduction of Howrah-Rourkela Shatabdi Express. The same year Talcher-Sambalpur route was opened for operation and two trains from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar Tapaswini Express (in 1998) and Hirakhand Express started plying between the cities. Tapaswini Express was later extended to Puri hence the holy city was directly linked to Rourkela.
The present station of Rourkela is located westwards from the place where the original Rourkela station used to be. The place is still referred as the “Old Station”. There used to be 3 platforms in the station but due to increased traffic and public demand two platforms 4 and 5 have been made operational. Thus Rourkela has 5 platforms. Extension of Platform shelter is also being carried out at all the platforms. A huge amount of money is being spent to keep the platforms and station complex neat and clean.- STD and computerized reservation facilities are available at the station along with a new system known as the . Interactive Voice Response System(IVRS).
- LCD, T.V.s and electronic display systems are installed in the platforms for passenger entertainment, advertisement, and running status of trains.
- LED coach positioning system for the arriving trains is also present in all platforms.
- A larger parking space for two wheelers has been allocated some months before
FUTURE PLANS
Plans are being made to develop Rourkela Junction as a model world class station with all the modern facilities like refreshment rooms,restaurants,game parlours etc. The successful implementation of this plan depends upon the eagerness of the railway authorities.authorities.Plans are there to construct a new Platform-6 owing to the increasing railway traffic at Rourkela Junction. Further a second entrance to Rourkela Railway Station is being constructed from the Northern end which will facilitate the passengers from Industrial Township.thus saving both time and money.
Rourkela should be desiganted as a WORLD CLASS STATION.
