Cabinet clears third railway line between Bengal and Odisha

Tthe project would cost Rs 1,866.31 crore and would be completed by 2023-24.

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of a third railway line between Narayangarh in West Bengal and Bhadrak in Odisha.

Addressing the media, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the new 155-km railway line will ease congestion on the route.

"The third line will help generate additional optimum capacity to cope with the existing as well as additional traffic," he said.

According to government estimates, the project would cost Rs 1,866.31 crore and would be completed by 2023-24. It is expected to generate direct employment for around 37.2 lakh man days.

Narayangarh – Bhadrak section forms a part of the Howrah-Chennai trunk route. The present utilization (with maintenance block) of the section between Narayangarh & Bhadrak is to the tune of 138% as per Line Capacity Statement 2014-15. Over and above the heavy freight traffic, the route has to accommodate 47 pairs of coaching trains including high-speed trains like Bhubaneswar Rajdhani, Howrah-Yesvantpur Duronto, Howrah-Puri Duronto, Sealdah-Puri duronto & Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express. This makes it highly congested.