ROURKELA RAILFANNING ASSOCIATION - Recently Updated Pages

TRAIN TIMING AT ROURKELA CITY

cooldillip707 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:17:32 CST

Freq	Train No.	Arr.	Dep.	Train Name	Arr.	Dep.	Train No.	Freq
Daily	18005	04:45	05:05	Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express	01:15	01:25	18006	Daily
Daily	18105	............	05:30	Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express	21:30	...........	18106	Daily
Daily	18107	............	16:45	Rourkela-Koraput Express	07:00	..............	18108	Daily
Mon	17006	00:35	00:45	Darbhanga-Hyderabad Express	19:05	19:25	17005	Thu
Daily	12810	02:10	02:25	Howrah-Mumbai Mail	22:55	23:10	12809	Daily
Daily	18601	..............	11.15	Rourkela-Jammu Tawi Express	14.05	..............	18602	Daily
Thu	12574	20:30	20:45	Howrah-Shirdi Express	12:10	12:25	12573	Sun
Mon,Fri	22846	22:40	22:45	Hatia-Pune Express	13:40	13:45	22845	Thu,Mon
Daily	13351	18:30	19:00	Dhanbad-Allapuzha Express	05:20	05:40	13352	Daily
Mon	12950	06:00	06:15	Santragachi-Porbandar Kaviguru Express	22:25	22:40	12949	Sat
Sat	15612	20:30	20:45	Guwahati-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Karmabhoomi Express	13:25	13:40	15611	Fri
Daily	18451	19:15	19:20	Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express	08:05	08:20	18452	Daily
Daily	18477	09:10	09:30	Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express	16:45	17:05	18478	Daily
Mon	19659	02:30	02:40	Shalimar-Udaipur Express	02:55	03:05	19660	Sun
Wed	12768	20:30	20:45	Santragachi-Hazur Sahib Nanded Express	12:10	12:25	12767	Tue
Daily	18030	23:02	23:12	Shalimar-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express	03:30	03:40	18029	Daily
Daily	13288	11:35	11:50	Danapur-Durg South Bihar Express	15:10	15:25	13287	Daily
Daily	12834	06:15	06:35	Howrah-Ahmedabad Express	06:30	06:50	12833	Daily
Daily	12871	13:35	13:55	Howrah-Titlagarh Ispat Express	11:25	11:45	12872	Daily
Daily	12860	19:50	20:05	Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express	05:43	05:50	12859	Daily
Daily	18189	18:35	19:00	Tatanagar-Allapuzha Express	05:20	06:15	18190	Daily
Daily	12130	03:55	04:05	Howrah-Pune Azad Hind Express	21:05	21:20	12129	Daily
Wed,Sat,Sun	12906	04:55	05:02	Howrah-Porbandar Express	20:40	21:00	12905	M,Th,F
Tue,Thu,Fri,Mon	12102	04:53	05:00	Howrah-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Jnaneswari Express	23:28	23:35	12101	Su,Tu,W,Sa
Fri,Sat	12812	12:20	12:30	Hatia-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express	00:50	01:00	12811	Mon,Tue
Sun,Tue	12835	21:00	21:05	Hatia-Yesvantpur Express	16:25	16:30	12836	Thu,Sat
Fri	12889	21:00	21:05	Tatanagar-Yesvantpur Express	16:25	16:30	12890	Tue
Sat,Sun	12152	06:00	06:15	Howrah-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Samarsata Express	22:25	22:40	12151	Thu,Fri
Fri	12870	20:30	20:45	Howrah-Mumbai Express	12:10	12:25	12869	Mon
Mon,Wed,Sat	12831	23:30	23:40	Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Garib Rath Express	04:05	04:15	12832	M,W,Sat
Fri,Tue	18312	07:55	08:15	Varanasi-Sambalpur Express	15:50	16:10	18311	Wed,Sun
Daily	58131	..........	08:00	Rourkela-Puri Passenger	20:15	...........	58120	Daily
Daily	58113	10:40	11:15	Tatanagar-Nagpur Amaravati Passenger	17:35	18:40	58112	Daily
Daily	58111	21:50	22:10	Tatanagar-Bilaspur Passenger	03:00	03:25	58110	Daily
Daily	58115	............	07:45	Chakradharpur-Rourkela Saranda Passenger	16:00	............	58114	Daily
Daily	58161	16:10	17:00	Hatia-Jharsuguda Passenger	09:40	10:00	58140	Daily
Daily	58131	16:45	17:00	Barsuan-Biramitrapur Passenger	07:55	08:10	58130	Daily
Daily	58133	............	14:50	Rourkela-Jharsuguda DMU	11:10	...........	58122	Daily
Daily	58125	58127		Jharsuguda-Sambalpur DMU		58126	58124	Daily

DEMANDS

cooldillip707 — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:18:54 CST

ADMINISTRATION

Creation of a new Rourkela Division comprising of the districts of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Kendujhargarh, administered by East Coast Railways

NEW TRAINS

Rourkela- Amritsar Brahmani Mail (Biweekly) via Jharsuguda, Bilaspur, Katni, Gwalior, Agra, H.Nizamuddin Rourkela-New Delhi Brahmani Yamuna Superfast Express (Biweekly) via Ranchi,Muri,Gomoh,Kanpur

Rourkela-Bangalore City (Weekly) Superfast Express via Jharsuguda, Bilaspur,Raipur, Gondia, Nagbhir, Ballharshah, Kazipet, Kacheguda(Hyderabad), Kurnool Town, Anantapur, Dharamavaram

Rourkela-Brahmapur Express via Sambalpur,Bhubaneswar(4 days) ;via Chakradharpur,Kendujhargarh, Jakhapura, Bhubaneswar(3 days)

Biramitrapur-Paradweep Intercity Express via Rourkela,Rajkharsuan, Kendujhargarh,Jakhapura

Visakhapatnam- New Delhi Express (Biweekly) via Koraput, Rayagada,Titlagarh, Sambalpur,Rourkela,Ranchi, Muri,Kanpur

MEMU Local Train service between Rourkela/Tatanagar and Jharsuguda

EXTENSIONS

12877/12878 New Delhi-Ranchi Garib Rath Express to Rourkela

18623/18624 Rajendranagar-Hatia Express to Rourkela

18103/18104 Tatanagar-Amritsar Jallianwala Bagh Express to Sambalpur and rerouting it via Jharsuguda, Rourkela,Ranchi,Muri, Bokaro Steel City on alternate days

DIVERSIONS

12875/12876 Puri-New Delhi Neelachal Express via Angul, Sambalpur City, Rourkela, Tatanagar,Muri (3 days a week)

18477/18478 Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express on Kendujhargarh,Bansapani,Padapahar,Chakradharpur,Rourkela route

12819/12820 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Odisha Sampark Kranti Express via Angul,Sambalpur,Rourkela,Ranchi,Muri (3 days a week)

12443/12444 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express , 2 days a week on Angul,Sambalpur,Jharsuguda,Rourkela,Tatanagar route

15929/15930 Guwahati-Chennai Express via Tatanagar, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Rayagada,Visakhapatnam

12409/12410 Raigarh-New Delhi Gondwana Express via Rourkela, Ranchi/Tata, Kanpur (3 days a week)

18047/18048 Howrah-Vasco-da-Gama Amaravati Express; 2 days a week via Tatanagar, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Bilaspur,Raipur,Nagpur,Nasik Road, Panvel, Roha, Chiplun,Ratnagiri

16323/16324 Shalimar-Thiruvannanthapuram Express OR 12659/12660 Shalimar-Nagarcoil Express on Tatanagar-Rourkela-Sambalpur-Rayagada-Visakhapatnam route once a week.

INCREASE IN FREQUENCY

12835/12836 Hatia-Yesvantpur Express to 4 days a week

12889/12890 Tata-Yesvantpur Express to 3 days a week

18311/18312 Sambalpur-Varanasi Express to 6 days a week

NEW ROUTES

Allocation of Rs 200 crores to Talcher-Bimalagarh project for its fast completion

Work initiation on Bansapani-Bimalagarh route

Survey for Kiriburu-Gua and Kiriburu Bolanikhadan railway routes

Survey for Biramitrapur-Lohardaga-Garwa Road

Survey for Jharsuguda-Ambikapur via Sundargarh Town,Talsara

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Construction of a Passenger Coach Terminal(Coaching Complex) and A.C. Charging Station at Rourkela Junction

Removal of encroachment and construction of Platform-6, Multi-functional Complex and Northern Entrance Gate in the circulating area of the station

World Class Station status to Rourkela Junction with renaming it as Rourkela City

Construction of a Railway Coach Factory at Bondamunda

Establishment of a Railway Medical College or Super Speciality Hospital at Bondamunda. The existing Railway Hospital at Bondamunda can be upgraded to meet the above purpose.

Immediate allocation of model station and A-Class station facilities to Rourkela Junction

Extension of Parking facilities at Rourkela Junction

Construction of Foot Overbridge connecting Rourkela Station with Railway Colony and Madhusudan Marg on either sides

Fast Completion of Basanti Nagar Railway Overbridge
Construction of similar Railway overbridges at Bondamunda Kukuda Gate, STI , ITI , Kalunga and Kansbahal

ROURKELA RAILWAYS Home

cooldillip707 — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:30:49 CDT

ROURKELA CITY WELCOMES YOU

ROURKELA JUNCTION

cooldillip707 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:47:37 CDT

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.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.

DISTANCE FROM ROURKELA CITY

cooldillip707 — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:17:14 CDT

CITY	DISTANCE(in kms.)	NO. OF EXPRESS TRAINS
AHMEDABAD	1678	03
BENGALURU-YESVANTPUR	1737	02
BHILAINAGAR-DURG	0447	12
BHUBANESWAR	0462/ 0623/0443/0419	04
BILASPUR	0306	12
BOKARO STEEL CITY	0287	01
CHENNAI	1449	01
COIMBATORE	1946	01
CUTTACK	0445	03
DANAPUR	0465	01
DELHI	1454	01
DHANBAD	0340	01
JHARSUGUDA	0102	25 ( 1 BYPASS)
KHARAGPUR	0299	14
KOLKATA (HOWRAH)	0415	11

MUMBAI	1562	07
NAGPUR	0724	10
PATNA	0453	01
PUNE	1602	01
PURI	0530 / 0683	02
RANCHI-HATIA	0169	07
RAYAGADA	0471	05
SAMBALPUR	0152	10
TATANAGAR	0165	15
VISAKHAPATNAM	0657	03

ABOUT US

cooldillip707 — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:38:52 CST

Rourkela Railfanning Association is a voluntary organization,created with the aim of uniting railfans in and around Rourkela City and to develop Rourkela as a potential railfanning hub. A railfan is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport and the hobby extends to all aspects of rail transport systems. Railfans may have one or more particular concentrations of interest, such as,

Railway locomotives and rolling stock
Still-used or disused railroad lines, bridges, tunnels, stations, and other infrastructure
Subways and other local rail transit systems
Railway history
Railroad photography and videoshooting
Railway signaling
Rail transport modeling
Timetable collecting
Railway art or architecture
Railway operations, economics or commerce
Railway preservation/restoration

Other than railfanning , the organization is interested in taking up various issues related with railways, and has submitted memorandums with higher authorities, pressing for the development of railway infrastructure and communication in the region.

All those persons interested in railfanning activity ,or interested in railway developmental works in Greater Rourkela region,are invited to join the group

CONTACT US

cooldillip707 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:12:37 CDT

If u want to get any railway information regarding Rourkela, Share your views, give suggestions on improvement of this website or any other issue please e-mail us at

rourkelarailinfo@gmail.com

superex707@gmail.com

PANPOSH

cooldillip707 — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:46:52 CDT

Panposh is situated 5 kms. west of Rourkela Junction and this is the place after which the trains enter or leave Rourkela City.It is situated at an elevation of 183 meters above mean sea level at 84.8E longitude and 22.25 N latitude respectively. It is located near Brahmani River upon which two railway bridges are constructed (one for up and another for down). These bridges are named “Brahmani Setu” but popularly they are known as Panposh Bridge.

HISTORY

Panposh is as old as Rourkela station and it got rail links with the commencement of the Goilkera-Jharsuguda route in 1891. In 1931,this place was about 10 times bigger than Rourkela and hence strategically more important. For many years this place has maintained the position of a census town having a quite good population and the station has served its purpose in providing serviced to the people of the area.

PRESENT DAY POSITION

Panposh is an important stop for all the passenger trains passing in and out of Rourkela City. Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express halts here as it was a major demand from the people of Panposh.
The platform which was at ground level for a long period has now been raised by some meters so that one can easily get into the train. Also the platform sheds have been expanded and water is being supplied to the station via handpumps.

KALUNGA

cooldillip707 — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:44:46 CDT

Kalunga is an industrial area, located just outside the steel city (about 5 kms.). Noted for its various heavy industries like the sponge iron plants and refractories ,this region is known as Kalunga Industrial Area. Industries like Chariot Cement and Tata Refractories are present here. The Kalunga station here caters to more than 40000 people who live in the region. The station is an important stop for Passenger trains and an Express train also halts here.

SCHEDULE OF BHUBANESWAR-ROURKELA INTERCITY EXPRESS

cooldillip707 — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:35:29 CDT

Station Code	Station Name	Arrival Time	Departure Time	Distance
BBS	BHUBANESWAR	………	13:35	0
DNKL	DHENKANAL	14:46	14:47	62
TLHD	TALCHER ROAD	15:26	15:28	111
ANGL	ANGUL	15:50	15:55	123
RAIR	RAIRAKHOL	16:58	17:00	208
SBPY	SAMBALPUR CITY	18:00	18:02	273
RGL	RENGALI	18:28	18:30	292
JSG	JHARSUGUDA JN	19:10	19:12	318
BMB	BAMRA	19:43	19:45	354
GP	RAJGANGPUR	20:15	20:17	389
ROU	ROURKELA JN	21:30	……	419

SCHEDULE OF ROURKELA-BHUBANESWAR INTERCITY EXPRESS

cooldillip707 — Fri, 07 May 2010 03:33:47 CDT

Station Code	Station Name	Arrival Time	Departure Time	Distance in kms.
ROU	ROURKELA JN	………	05:30	0
GP	RAJGANGPUR	05:53	05:54	31
BMB	BAMRA	06:22	06:23	65
JSG	JHARSUGUDA JN	07:05	07:07	102
RGL	RENGALI	07:32	07:33	128
SBPY	SAMBALPUR CITY	07:59	08:00	147
RAIR	RAIRAKHOL	08:52	08:53	212
ANGL	ANGUL	10:30	10:35	297
TLHD	TALCHER ROAD	10:49	10:50	309
DNKL	DHENKANAL	11:37	11:38	357
BBS	BHUBANESWAR	13:00	………	419

BONDAMUNDA JUNCTION

cooldillip707 — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:14:53 CST

Bondamunda Junction is located about 8 Kms. east from the city center at an elevation of 236.661 meters above mean sea level. One can travel both by rail and road to Bondamunda from Rourkela Junction or Bus Terminal. The interstate highway (MDR-32) that links Barbil,Manoharpur with Jaraikela,Bisra, Rourkela passes through Bondamunda. Bondamunda is a reputed junction of the South Eastern Railway and connects Rourkela to Ranchi/Hatia, Tatanagar/Howrah, Kiribaru/Barsuan/Bimalagarh.

Further it has the second largest marshalling yard of India.

HISTORY

After independence , a lot of railway projects were undertaken by the Central Government,in order to connect the various regions of the country. The regions which were considered as potential hubs for industrial development were given the first preference. Two such industries were
Heavy Engineering Corporation, Ranchi and Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela.

The heavy machineries manufactured in Ranchi was sent to different steel plants in the region and hence all the sites having steel plants were connected to Ranchi. Hence Rourkela was connected to Ranchi via a 170 kms. long railway route. Also Rourkela was connected to Barsuan iron mines via a 85 kms. long route.(this line extends upto Bimalagarh ). Both the routes branch at Bondamunda. The Bondamunda-Barsuan route via Bimalagarh was opened in 1st January,1960 while the Bondamunda-Kiribaru route commenced operations on 20th January,1963.

In the early 50’s ,when the steel plant at Rourkela was under construction, the Railways developed at marshalling yard at Bondamunda to cater to the bulk transportation requirements of the steel plant, including iron ore from Barsuan, Kiriburu, Meghataburu mines, limestone from Birmitrapur, coal from Dhanbad and finished steel products for the stock yards. With the increasing traffic on the Howrah-Mumbai route, two locomotive sheds were constructed at Bondamunda ,one was dedicated to Steam locomotives while the other homed the Diesel locomotives.

With the progress of electrification, the holding of Tata Electric Loco Shed increased, it became clear that a separate electric-loco shed was needed. The Electric Loco Shed, Bondamunda made a modest beginning in January 1983 with a loco holding of 6 WAM-4 locomotives and soon reached a holding of 50.

The combination of the three locomotive sheds i.e. Steam,Diesel and Electric,Bondamunda Junction became the largest marshalling yard in Asia. But with the closure of the steam locomotive shed in late 80’s ,it declined to the second position.Due to pressing need for freight locomotives the holding has increased to 110 electric locomotives and is set to rise even further. The shed is now undergoing a massive expansion programme.

In case of an accident or mishap hydraulic breakdown cranes are used for restoration of railway traffic by removing the debris and helping in the repairing of the track (if it happens). One such 140 tonne gottwald diesel hydraulic breakdown crane (Crane no. 142035) was acquired by the Bondamunda Junction in 1987.

CURRENT POSITION

Heavy marshalling activities can be noticed in the yard with a lot of freight locomotives(both diesel and electric) and a lot of wagons. More than 400 wagons can be noticed at Bondamunda-E and Bondamunda-D at anytime of the day. Bondamunda has about 16 flag cabins among which the major are as follows.

Bondamunda-A
Bondamunda-C
Bondamunda-D(Kukuda Gate)
Bondamunda-E
Bondamunda-F
Bondamunda-G
Bondamunda-H
Bondamunda-J
Bondamunda-K
Bondamunda Link B
Bondamunda Junction

Most of the freight activity is noticed at Bondamunda-D,Bondamunda-E and Bondamunda Junction. All the above cabins have platforms as well and all the passenger as well as some express trains halt here.

The diesel locomotive shed is known for its locomotives which are generally used to haul passenger and express trains towards south of Rourkela i.e. Sambalpur onwards. Some of the locomotives registered to this shed are as follows:

WDM-3A
WDM-2A
WDM-3D(Latest Version)
WDS(Shunter)

Trains availing the facility of Bondamunda Diesel Locomotives

2835/2836	Hatia-Yesvantpur Express
2871/2872	Howrah- Sambalpur Ispat Express
2889/2890	Tatanagar- Yesvantpur Express
2831/2832	Hatia- Bhubaneswar Garib Rath Express
3351/3352	Dhanbad- Allapuzha Express
8005/8006	Howrah- Koraput Samaleswari Express
8451/8452	Hatia - Puri Tapaswini Express
211/212	Rourkela - Puri Passenger
3RJ/2RJ	Rourkela - Sambalpur D.M.U.

The Electric Loco Shed is used to shed electric locomotives like WAM-4,Tatanagar,WAP-4,Santragachi locomotives alongwith freight locomotives of Bondamunda Junction.

· WAG-7
· WAG-5HA
· WAG-5HE
· WAG-5
· WAG-5A

Note-: The locomotive specifications given here are as per the observations in Rourkela and Bondamunda Junctions,many more diesel and electric locos are yet to be discovered.

The shed has consistently discharged the responsibilities assigned to it. The attitude of commitment, dedication and devotion to duty, has earned the Shed a place of pride in the South Eastern Railway.

FUTURE PLANS

A branch of the proposed freight corridor is planned to Bondamunda via Tatanagar and a large cargo terminal is also planned here.

CURRENT PROBLEMS

cooldillip707 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:17:59 CST

No doubt that Rourkela lies on the Howrah - Mumbai main Railway route, which in fact "is" a busy line, not for passengers but for goods. A lot of freight activity is noticed in and around Rourkela, but no such activity is noticed for passenger or express trains. Passenger services remain neglected, in one of the most industrialized regions of the country. During the last decade many trains which were terminating at Rourkela were either removed or extended to other cities. The examples are as follows:

Train Number	Name of the Train	Current Status
305/306	Rourkela-Jharsuguda Passenger	Cancelled
N.A.	Howrah-Rourkela Passenger	Cancelled
N.A.	Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Passenger	Cancelled
8447/8448	Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express	Koraput-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express
2021/2022	Howrah-Rourkela Shatabdi Express	Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express
8451/8452	Rourkela-Puri Tapaswini Express	Hatia-Puri Tapaswini Express
N.A.	Rourkela-Jharsuguda-Nizamuddin Hirakud Link Express	Cancelled
2871/2872	Howrah-Rourkela Ispat Express	Howrah-Sambalpur Ispat Express

People from all over India, work in Rourkela Steel Plant and the industries in and around Rourkela. Due to poor connectivity with other regions of the country, these people face a lot of problems, while visiting their native places.
Further Rourkela has got the National Institute of Technology (N.I.T), which attracts a lot of students from India and even abroad. The students who belong to South India face the same problem, like frequent changing of trains,to visit their native places. Further many students who study in South Indian cities like Hyderabad face the problem of changing trains at Bhubaneswar.

Of the total 2495 kms. of railway route present in the state, Sundargarh district has got the maximum i.e. 337 kms. With industries like Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela; OCL,Rajgangpur and mines like Hemgiri-Rampur(Coal), Barsuan,Kiribaru(Iron-ore), Biramitrapur(Limestone), Sundargarh generates a heavy revenue for Chakradharpur Division and South Eastern Railways, thus making the division and the zone the highest revenue generator in the country. But this heavy revenue generated is not spent for the district, but for other regions in the country which are already developed in railway communication. It is highly regretted by the Rourkelites.

Many intellectuals point out that if Talcher- Bimalagarh railway route had been operational then Indian Railways could have saved thousands of crores of rupees which has been lost in cancelling and diverting trains. Not a single train from Rourkela would have been cancelled plus time and money of passengers as well as Railways would have been saved,with trains following the Talcher-Bimalagarh-Rourkela-Tatanagar route. This route when completed will prove a boon to the people of Rourkela as it is expected to reduce the journey time between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar by 4 hours.

It has been a long demand (more than 40 years), to construct a Rail Coach Factory at Bondamunda ,but this has fallen deaf ears to the Government. Bondamunda, being the second largest Railway Marshalling Yard in Asia ,has a plenty of land available and no personal land will be lost in the transaction.

Further it will provide employment to a large number of people. In addition to this a washing line, terminal facilities are also demanded at Rourkela Junction. A washing line will help in the regular cleaning of long as well as short distance trains. Presently one such line is present at Garden Reach Workshop at Kolkata, hence it is inconvenient for non Howrah trains to be regularly cleaned.

With the introduction of Terminal facilities, Rourkela will be able to terminate a lot of express trains, more than that it used to have. Presently no express trains terminate at Rourkela, which is to be regretted and with the construction of a terminal, Railway coaches (trains) can be sheltered in coach sheds/depots. Removal of illegal occupation from the land belonging to Railways will help in the construction of washing line/facility, maintainance shed, coach terminal, parking space etc. Further another road can be constructed which will connect the station from the North. This type of dual road connectivity to railway stations exists in various cities in India but still is not available to a metropolitan like Rourkela.