ROURKELA: In a bid to ease congestion through Rourkela junction on the busy Howrah-Mumbai main line, the South Eastern Railway (SER) has been expeditiously executing the fourth and fifth line projects between Panposh and Bondamunda.
Inspecting the ongoing projects and railway facilities at Rourkela and nearby regions on Monday, Kolkata-based SER general manager Anil Kumar Mishra said almost 95 per cent work of the fourth line project between Rourkela and Bondamunda (about 10 km) has been completed and would be commissioned by March. As of now, 60 per cent work of the fifth line between Rourkela and Bondamunda has been completed. A target has been set to complete it by December.
Mishra said Rourkela is an important junction station of the SER and multiple infrastructure projects have been sanctioned before. Accordingly, works are being executed to provide better facilities and services to the public. The third line already exists between Rourkela and Panposh (5.5 km) and work on the fourth line is underway in full swing with a target to complete it by December.
The SER GM further said in the neighbourhood of Rourkela, work would soon start on two new rail lines towards Bondamunda and one towards Panposh. After completion of these projects, congestion on the route would ease to eventually improve movement and punctuality of passenger and freight trains through Rourkela.
Incidentally, about 170 trains, mostly goods, pass through Rourkela daily. In the wake of huge rail traffic congestion on the route for the past couple of years, almost all passenger trains are inevitably facing hours of delay due to detention to allow passage to good trains.
Mishra informed that work on a new flyover project at Rourkela would start soon. The SER has asked the executing agency to complete the project in 12 months and open it for public by April 2026.
Bondamunda unit secretary of SER Men’s Congress D Chandrasekhar Rao said the GM’s focus on expeditious implementation of railway infrastructure projects and frequent visits to Rourkela and nearby regions have drastically improved the pace of works. In the last three months the GM has visited the region at least three times, he added.