ROURKELA: Redevelopment of Panposh railway station as outer station of Rourkela is gaining ground as it can provide strategic gain and convenience.
Ramesh Agarwal, a member of the Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) has proposed the need for making Panposh the outer station for Rourkela. In a letter to the general manager of South Eastern Railway (SER) on March 21, he outlined strategic advantages of the proposed redevelopment on the lines of the Adityapur station of Tatanagar in the adjacent Jharkhand.
The proposed Lathikata-Kalunga freight railway line will help ease congestion at Rourkela junction which is part of the busy Howrah-Mumbai railway line under SER.
Once this new railway line is in place, all goods trains will be diverted, freeing up space at Rourkela station. As a result, passenger trains that currently start from Rourkela could begin their journey from Panposh instead.
The letter added that Panposh serves as an important entry point to Rourkela city and can become a gateway for visitors travelling to Vedvyas Dham, an important cultural, religious, historical and heritage site in Sundargarh. To boost tourism, the government is planning to build a suspension bridge between Vedvyas Dham and Panposh at a cost of Rs 60 crore.
The oldest station in the area under SER, it has been included in Amrit Bharat Station Scheme which covers 56 railway stations in Odisha but no development work has started yet. Since Panposh station is surrounded by Civil Township, Chhend Colony, and other major establishments, it will be a convenient commuting hub for people.