Rourkela Junction railway station (station code:- ROU) is a railway junction located in the north-western part of 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 serves Rourkela in Sundergarh district. Rourkela is the third-largest

urban agglomeration An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

in Odisha. Mumbai CSTM – Howrah

Gitanjali Express The 12859 / 12860 ''Gitanjali Express'' is a daily train running between two metro cities, Kolkata, () in West Bengal and Mumbai, (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) in Maharashtra connecting the East with the West. Numbered 12859/60 this ...

passes through Rourkela.

History

Rourkela railway station came up with the opening of the Nagpur–Asansol main line of

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 ...

in 1891. It became a station on the crosscountry

Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line The Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line (also known as Mumbai–Kolkata line) is a railway line in India connecting Kolkata and Mumbai via Nagpur. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1900. Sections The trunk line has been treated in more deta ...

in 1900. Rourkela was connected to Barsuan iron ore mines in 1960. In earlier days the railway station of Rourkela was within the village of Mahulpali. The railway station gained in importance with the setting up of India's first public sector steel plant at Rourkela in the nineteen fifties. It was electrified in 1961–62.

Busy station

Rourkela railway station is amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway. 10 trains originate at Rourkela and 101 trains(including weeklies and bi-weeklies) pass through it. It is situated on the Kolkata–Mumbai South Eastern railway line which is a major route connecting the two metros of India. Rourkela is connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Asansol, Ranchi, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Patna, Vishakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Raipur, Cuttack, Puri, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Jammu & Kashmir and Ranchi.

Bimlagarh–Talcher project

The long line connecting Bimlagarh on the Bondamunda–Barsuan branch line and Talcher on the Sambalpur–Talcher–Barang branch line, was sanctioned in 2004–05 and construction is in progress. This line when complete would reduce the distance between Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, the state capital, from 460 km (via Sambalpur) to 300 km.

Bondamunda - Rourkela (Diesel & Electric) Locomotive Shed

Two locomotive sheds, one for steam locomotives and the other for diesel locomotives, was set up at Bondamunda in the 1950s. The steam locomotive shed was closed in the late 1980s. An electric locomotive shed was started in 1983 to accommodating six WAM-4 locomotives. As of 2019, it accommodates 242 electric locomotives and is being expanded. A new electric locomotive shed is under construction having capacity of 200

WAG-9 The Indian locomotive class WAG-9 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by ABB Group (ABB) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), AC Current (A), Goods traffic (G), 9th generation (9) ...

locomotives. BDM RKL Shed

References

External links

Trains at Rourkela
{{Railway stations in Odisha Railway stations in Sundergarh district Railway junction stations in Odisha Chakradharpur railway division Railway stations in India opened in 1891 Transport in Rourkela