BHUBANESWAR: The Khurda Road-Balangir rail link project achieved another milestone on Saturday with the trial run of a railway engine on the newly-laid line in the Jharmunda-Boudh railway section.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said the engine rolled successfully on the 16.27 km line, which was completed recently. The Commissioner of railway safety had inspected this section along with the 29.75 km stretch between Sonepur-Purunapani-Jharmunda a few days back.
Of the total 301 km of the Khurda Road-Balangir project, 183 km of rail line has been commissioned. The Indian Railways has been constructing this line from both sides - Khurda Road and Balangir, to ensure early completion of the project.
So far, 106 km from Khurda Road to Daspalla and 77 km from Balangir to Jharmunda have been commissioned. Apart from this, a distance of 16.27 km from Jharmunda to Boudh has also been completed. The segment from Boudh to Purunakatak, covering about 27 km, is expected to complete within the next few months.
Railway sources said the Sonepur-Purunapani-Jharmunda section involves one important bridge, seven major bridges, four road over bridges (ROBs), 22 road under bridges (RUBs)/limited height subways (LHS) and 65 minor bridges.
Apart from this, the Jharmunda-Boudh section comprises six major bridges, one ROB, 12 RUB/LHS and 37 minor bridges. With this, Boudh district headquarter is now connected to western Odisha through railway network, said a railway official. Sanctioned in 1994-95, the Khurda Road-Balangir project is part of closely monitored projects of Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.