Kendrapara: Hopes for regular plying of trains on the newly laid Haridaspur-Paradip broad gauge rail route soared high after a multiple tower car successfully completed its second trial run on the track here, Saturday.
The multiple tower car which started from Haridaspur railway station arrived at the Gop station in Kendrapara in the morning and returned back on the route.
Almost 95 per cent of the work has been completed, said Prasant Kumar Mishra, project manager-cum-director of the rail route.
This is the second time that a multiple tower car had successfully run for 43.8 km on this 82-km long unmanned rail route. Earlier, a multiple tower car had a similar run June 29, 2019.
Meanwhile, repair works are underway on the rail route at Gosainbandha under Marshgahai tehsil after the tracks reportedly sank in the area.
The twin successful trial runs have boosted the chances of regular plying of goods train on the route. According to available information, goods trains might ply on the track from March end. This will help place Kendrapara on the railway map of the country.
During the trail run, a technical team accompanied the train and verified the track, overhead electrical wires and other ancillary works at various points on the route, Mishra said.
He said two consultancy agencies were engaged to construct the rail route. The route from Haridaspur to Gop was constructed by ARSS-SIPS joint venture, while KEC constructed the track from Gop till Paradip.
The rail route has been linked with telecommunication networks while signboards and road marks have been put up at various places. Thirty-one bridges and 171 culverts have been constructed on the rivers, canals and other water bodies coming along the route.
The notification for construction of the board gauge Haridaspur-Paradip route via Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts was published December 9, 1998. Since then, 21 years have passed but the work is yet to get completed.
The 82-km long unmanned rail route will have stations at Chandikhole, Ratnagiri, and Lalitgiri in Jajpur district, Bajipada, Marshaghai, Kalaghar and Gop in Kendrapara district and Nuagaon and Siju in Jagatsinghpur district.
Preliminary reports suggested that route will be initially used for plying of goods train which will help reduce the distance to almost half in ferrying of minerals from Banspani mines in Keonjhar district to the Paradip port.
Prasant Nayak, a local resident, said, “I have been eagerly waiting for train service on the rail route. The day regular train service is launched it will be a historic day for the residents of Kendrapara district.”
Social activist Samir Chand said Kendrapara getting connected with rail network will fulfill a longstanding dream of the residents and will intensify development in the district.
Farmer leader Bidhu Bhushan Rath said he welcomes the project but it will be hard to forget the pains of farmers who are suffering for the rail route.
The consultancy agencies have lifted soil from farmlands to raise the height of the rail route and this has led to farmlands getting inundated at the slightest rainfall, Rath said. He blamed the district administration and the railway authorities for not constructing siphon to drain out the excess water during rainfall and save the adjoining farmlands from getting submerged.
Another resident Lakshmikant Nayak said several lands have been acquired for construction of the rail route but the land owners are yet to receive adequate compensation for the loss.
PNN
