BARBIL: Barbil Bikas Parishad has demanded railway link between Barbil and Banspani under Chakradharpur division of South Eastern Railway (SER).
A memorandum in this regard was submitted to General Manager of SER Sanjay Kumar Mohanty during his visit to Barbil. Members of the Parishad said the Railway Ministry collects crores of rupees as freight charges towards transport of iron ore from a number of railway sidings operating in the mining region but comparatively, the passenger service is negligible.
A passenger train from Puri to Rourkela via Barbil is running on Jakhpura-Banspani route since 2009. But there is no 17 km rail link between Banspani and Barbil railway stations. Passengers face major inconvenience as they have to travel an extra 70 km and spend four hours more as the train has to pass through neighbouring Jharkhand to reach Barbil from Banspani.
The memorandum also pointed out that following protests and agitations, the Railway Ministry, in its 2016-17 budget, decided to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the rail line. However, even after budgetary provision and placement of the project in the Railway Pink Book, no step has been taken to construct the railway line which would connect Barbil railway station with Barsuan and Kharagpur-Rourkela main line once completed.
The General Manager was also apprised of the pitiable condition of the platform in Barbil railway station. Later, Mohanty inspected the platform and assured to look into the problems. He also visited Bolani railway station.
Locals are also demanding extension of Tatanagar-Barbil passenger train to Bolani since long.