The Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section is a railway line connecting in the Indian state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

and

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. The main line is part of the

Howrah–Chennai main line The Howrah–Chennai main line is a railway line connecting Chennai and Kolkata cutting across Eastern Coastal Plains of India. It covers a distance of across, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Sections The long trunk line ...

Geography

The Khurda Road–Visakhapatnam section traverses the

Eastern Coastal Plains The Eastern Coastal Plains is a wide stretch of landmass of India, lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It is wider and leveled than the Western Coastal Plains and stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the n ...

, first the southern part of the Odisha plains from the Mahanadi River Delta to a little beyond Chilika Lake and then the Northern Circars. The coastal plains lie between the

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats pass through Odisha, Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka as well as Telangana. They are eroded and cut ...

and the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...

and at places the Eastern Ghats come close to the sea. This area has a number of rivers flowing into the sea –

Rushikulya The Rushikulya River is one of the major rivers in the state of Odisha and covers entire catchment area in the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam of Odisha. The Rushikulya originates at an elevation of about 1000 metres from Daringbadi hills of th ...

Vamsadhara River Vamsadhara or River Banshadhara is an important east flowing river between Rushikulya and Godavari, in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states in India. The river originates in the border of Thuamul Rampur in the Kalahandi district and Kalyansi ...

and Nagavali.

Port development

Visakhapatnam Port Visakhapatnam Port is one of 13 major ports in India and the only major port of Andhra Pradesh. It is India's third largest state-owned port by volume of cargo handled and largest on the Eastern Coast. It is located midway between the Chennai a ...

at the mouth of the Meghadrigedda was opened in 1933. It was initially developed by

Bengal Nagpur Railway The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway. History The opening of the ...

. The port has an inner harbour and an outer harbour . Visakhapatnam port handled 68.04 million tonnes of cargo in 2010–11, which was the second highest in India after

Kandla Kandla, now officially Deendayal Port Authority, is a seaport and town in Kutch district of Gujarat state in Western India, near the city of Gandhidham. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of India's major ports on the west coast. It is ab ...

. Visakhapatnam port is being upgraded to handle ships up to 200,000 DWT. Gangavaram Port came up in 2008 and is claimed to be deepest port in India, which can handle ships up to 200,000 DWT. A minor port is proposed to be developed at Bheemunipatnam, near the mouth of the Gosthani River.

Gopalpur-on-Sea Gopalpur is a coastal town and a Notified Area Council on the Bay of Bengal coast in Ganjam district in the southern part of Odisha, India. Today it is a commercial port, a famous sea beach and a tourist destination. Gopalpur is around 15 ...

is being developed into a deep sea port capable of handling ships up to 120,000 DWT.

History

Howrah–Chennai main line

During the period 1893 to 1896, of railway tracks covering the entire coastal stretch from to

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

, was built and opened to traffic by

East Coast State Railway The East Coast State Railway was a railway company operating in India. It was a guaranteed company formed in 1890. It had a brief existence. The southern part of the East Coast State Railway (from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over by Madras ...

's line to Cuttack was opened on 1 January 1899. The southern part of the East Coast State Railway (from Waltair to Vijayawada) was taken over by

Madras Railway The Madras Railway (full name Madras Railway Company) played a pioneering role in developing railways in southern India and was merged in 1908 with Southern Mahratta Railway to form Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. The Madras Railway was ...

in 1901. The -long northern portion of the East Coast line to Cuttack, including the branch line to , was taken over by

in 1902.

Branch lines

The Vizianagaram–Parvatipuram line was opened in 1908–09 and an extension to Salur was built in 1913. The Parvatipuram–Raipur line was completed in 1931. (More information is available in the

Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line The Jharsuguda–Vizianagaram line is a railway line in eastern India. It connects Jharsuguda, from Howrah on the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line, and Titlagarh, which in turn is connected with Vizianagaram, from Howrah on the Howrah–Chennai ...

.) In 1960, Indian Railway took up three projects: the Kottavalasa–Koraput–Jeypore–Kirandaul line (

Dandakaranya Project The Dandakaranya Project, or the DNK Project, was the form of action the Indian government designed in September 1958 for the settlement of displaced persons from Bangladesh (former East Pakistan) and for integrated development of the area with pa ...

), the Titlagarh–Bolangir–Jharsuguda Project and the Rourkela–Kiriburu Project. All the three projects taken together were popularly known as the DBK Project or the Dandakaranya Bolangir Kiriburu Project. The Kottavalasa–Kirandaul line was opened in 1966–67. The Paralakhemedi Light Railway opened the Naupada–Gunupur line between 1900 and 1931. The line was converted to broad gauge in 2011.

Railway reorganization

The

was nationalized in 1944. Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of

East Indian Railway Company The East Indian Railway Company, operating as the East Indian Railway (reporting mark EIR), introduced railways to East India and North India, while the Companies such as the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, South Indian Railway, Bombay, Barod ...

east of

Mughalsarai Mughalsarai (; English: '' Mughal Tavern''), officially known as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Nagar, is a city and a municipal board in the Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. Located around from Varanasi, it is an important railway junction ...

and the Bengal Nagpur Railway. In 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier. Amongst the new zones started in April 2003 were

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 1 April 2003. The headquarters of the zone are at Bhubaneswar, Odisha History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, Ea ...

and South East Central Railway. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway.

Electrification

Howrah–Chennai Mail The 12839 / 12840 Howrah–Chennai Mail is a mail train of Indian Railways connecting Howrah Junction and Chennai Central. It connects three metropolitan cities of India, Kolkata, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. It also runs via some major cities ...

was the first train in South Eastern Railway to be hauled by a diesel engine ( WDM-1) in 1965. The Khurda–Visakhapatnam section was completely electrified by 2002. The Howrah–Chennai route was completely electrified by 2005.

Speed limits

The entire Kharagpur–Visakhapatnam–Vijayawada main line is classified as a "Group B" line which can take speeds up to 130 km/h. In the branch lines the speed limit is 100 km/hr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khurda Road - Visakhapatnam section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Odisha Rail transport in Andhra Pradesh * * Railway lines opened in 1899 1899 establishments in India