The Hindu Business Line : Cuttack-Paradip rly line to be electrified

The doubling has already boosted the line capacity substantially and once the electrification is over it should be possible to handle as many as 30 rakes a day each direction on the route.

Kolkata , Jan 11

AFTER having completed the doubling of the 90-km Railway line between Cuttack and Paradip, the East Coast Railway is now working on its electrification.

"The work on electrification has started and, hopefully, will be over by 2007," Mr S.R. Chaudhuri, General Manager, told Business Line in Bhubaneswar recently. "The cost of the work is estimated at Rs 60 crore."

The doubling has already boosted the line capacity substantially and once the electrification is over it should be possible to handle as many as 30 rakes a day each direction on the route. The current number is 15-16 rakes a day, though more rakes can be handled.

Now that the adequate line capacity had been built up and a further addition to it is on the anvil, cargo inducement on the route should be adequate, said Mr Chaudhuri.

"The earlier criticism that poor rail connectivity to Paradip was limiting the port's traffic growth prospect will no longer hold good."

He added that completion of the second Railway bridge on the Mahanadi by 2007-08 would further boost connectivity to the port. Passenger service to Paradip too should improve, he said.

Right now, only two pairs of trains ply every day on the route. It should be possible to run more passenger trains depending on the passenger traffic.

Meanwhile, there is a proposal to run a Rail Bus, a self-propelled 72-seater diesel luxury coach, between Bhubaneswar/Cuttack and Paradip to help business people and corporate executives commute on the route.

The need for such a facility has arisen as more and more business people are to visit Paradip, particularly after the Korean steel giant, Posco, and others have announced their investment plans there.

The passenger transportation to Paradip by rail has of late gained importance in view of the critical condition of the existing road links.

Currently there are two roads, NH 5A and State Highway 12.

NH 5A connects Paradip port with NH 5 and is generally used by heavy vehicles, mostly trucks carrying iron ore to the port.

The road is now being widened, throwing up congestion and a myriad other problems.

The situation is so bad that it takes 5-6 hours, some times even more, to cover a distance of 80 km or so.

There are long queues of trucks on the both sides of the narrow road throwing all traffic rules to the wind with hardly any highway patrol in sight.

The condition of the other road, which is the old 90-km long Cuttack-Paradip road, also beggars description. It takes not less than four hours to cover the distance.