Indian Railways approves Rs 122 crore for 6 km Barbil-Bolanikhadan doubling project of South Eastern Railway

Indian Railways has approved the 6 km Barbil-Bolanikhadan Doubling Project of South Eastern Railway at a completion cost of Rs 122 crore, strengthening rail infrastructure on an important mineral movement corridor in Odisha.

According to the release, the project will facilitate additional freight traffic of 8.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) on this stretch after commissioning, and the doubling will also help reduce delays to freight trains.

The Barbil-Bolanikhadan section has been identified under the “Energy, Mineral and Cement Corridor” of Indian Railways. The existing section is a single-line section and currently carries about 9 MTPA, comprising about six loaded rakes per day of originating iron ore traffic. The traffic is entirely for high-grade ore and pellets moving from SAIL’s Bolani mines and private sidings, including Rungta and Khatau Narbheram, to major steel plants and ports.

Doubling this 6 km stretch, ahead of the full realisation of SAIL’s mine expansion and port and plant capacity additions, will help prevent capacity constraints in the designated mineral corridor. The approved work will support growing freight requirements, improve rail connectivity for the movement of iron ore to steel plants and ports, and strengthen rail capacity as mining, industrial and port activities expand in the region.

Separately, Indian Railways also approved the construction of a four-lane Road Over Bridge (ROB) at Alkapuri in the Vadodara Division of Western Railway at a total cost of Rs 166.5 crore, on a cost-sharing basis with the state government, with the Railway and state government shares each approximately Rs 83.28 crore. The existing Alkapuri Road Under Bridge near Vadodara Railway Station serves as an important east-west road connectivity link between the Alkapuri and Kalaghoda areas of Vadodara city, but has a vertical clearance of only about 3.0 metres, resulting in restrictions on larger vehicles and recurring waterlogging during the monsoon.