Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) is expanding coaching terminals and enhancing sectional and operational capacities across several cities to meet rising passenger demand and ease congestion.
“This initiative aims to upgrade the railway network and strengthen nationwide connectivity,” said Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Citing rapid and sustained growth in travel demand, ECoR stated in a press release that the capacity of major cities under its jurisdiction to originate new trains will need to double over the next five years.
The current infrastructure at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Visakhapatnam serving passenger needs is being augmented to meet the requirements of the upcoming years.
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The works for doubling the originating capacity by the year 2030 in these cities includes augmenting the current terminals with additional platforms, stabling lines, pit lines, and adequate shunting facilities; identifying and creating new terminals in and around the urban areas; developing maintenance facilities, including mega coaching complexes, increasing the sectional capacity with traffic facility works, signaling upgradation, and multitracking required for handling increased trains at various points.
The Railways said, while planning for increasing the capacity of terminals at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Visakhapatnam, nearby stations will also be considered so that capacity is evenly balanced.
At Puri, two additional full-length Integrated pit lines are under construction to supplement the existing six; the entire coaching maintenance facility is proposed to be shifted to a new second coaching terminal depot on the sanctioned Puri-Konark new line (Final Location Survey proposed), and a large-scale coaching complex is planned on this line.
At Bhubaneswar, the Bhubaneswar New Station is being developed as a satellite coaching terminal with a maintenance facility of two pit lines at Mancheswar and dedicated connectivity; due to space constraints, new depots are proposed in nearby areas.
At Visakhapatnam, a DPR for yard modification providing five additional lines, six additional passenger platforms, ten stabling lines and Electronic Interlocking is under consideration of the Railway Board; Jaganadhpuram station on the proposed Kottavalasa-Anakapalle bypass line is being planned as a mega coaching maintenance depot and large-scale complex to serve as a satellite station.
To support increased train volumes, multiple sectional capacity enhancement projects are progressing too.
A comprehensive plan covering Bhubaneswar, Puri and Visakhapatnam among the 48 major cities identified by Indian Railways is under implementation.
The plan includes works already sanctioned, in progress or proposed to achieve the goal of doubling train-handling capacity in a time-bound manner.
ECoR is also planning to increase train handling capacity across its divisions, ensuring that not only terminal capacity at Bhubaneswar, Puri and Visakhapatnam is enhanced but also sectional capacity and operational constraints at stations and yards are effectively addressed.