The Cuttack–Sambalpur line is a railway line connecting the cities of

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

with the

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

, in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Geography

The Cuttack–Sambalpur line traverses the center of

running along the river

Mahanadi The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independenc ...

. Its route connects four districts of Odisha:

Dhenkanal Dhenkanal is a town and a municipality in Dhenkanal district in the state of Odisha, India. Geography Dhenkanal is at . It has an average elevation of 80 metres (262 feet). Demographics As per the 2011 India census, Dhenkanal had a p ...

Angul Angul (also known as Anugul) is a city, municipality and the headquarters of Angul district in the state of Odisha, India. Angul has an average elevation of above sea level and total area of 6232 km2. Geography Angul is located at . I ...

and

. It connects the

Mahanadi Coalfields Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) is a major coal-producing company in India and one of the eight subsidiaries of Coal India Limited. It was carved out of South Eastern Coalfields Limited in 1992, with its headquarters located Sambalpur. MCL o ...

in Talcher and Nalco in Angul to

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 ...

in the east and

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 the west. It also connects

in Western Odisha to

Talcher Talcher, known as the "City Of Black Diamond" in Odisha, is a major industrial coal city and municipality. Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha. History During the British Raj Talcher was the c ...

History

In 1922, a railway line was built from Talcher to Nergundi to connect the coalfields in Talcher to the Howrah-Chennai main line. But since there was a need to connect the coalfields of Western Odisha to Eastern Odisha, the Talcher–Sambalpur railway project was commissioned in 1983 and the work began in 1987. It was completed in 1996 and became operational in 1998. The flagging off of the Tapaswini Express, the first passenger train of the section by the Hon'ble Minister of Railways, fulfilled the long cherished dream of the people of Odisha to have a cultural, emotional, and socio-economic integration of the eastern and western parts of the State. This rail link, apart from relieving congestion of the Howrah–Mumbai and Howrah–Chennai trunk routes, reduced the distance between Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Puri, respectively the commercial, political, and cultural capitals of Odisha, to important Indian cities of Western and Northern India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, etc. by 380 km.

Electrification and doubling

The track doubling and the electrification of the Nergundi–Talcher section were completed in 2015. The electrification of Talcher–Sambalpur section was completed in 2018. The track doubling work of Talcher-Sambalpur was completed in 2023, thus completing the track doubling and electrification of the entire Cuttack-Sambalpur route.

NALCO and NTPC links

This railway line connects NALCO and NTPC plants in Angul to rest of the country. The plant receives coal from the Lingaraj coal mine of MCL through a MGR Railway transportation system covering a distance of 39 km.

Coalfield links

Talcher Coalfield Talcher Coalfield is located in Angul district in the Indian state of Odisha, in the valley of the Brahmani.Talcher is famous for its rich coal reserves and coal mining industry. Located in the state of Odisha, India, Talcher is a major center ...

with reserves of 38.65 billion tonnes, the largest in India, is located on the Cuttack–Sambalpur line. This railway line connects the MCL coalfields of Brajrajnagar and

in western and eastern Odisha respectively.

Speed limits

The Cuttack–Sambalpur line is classified as a "Group D Spl" line which can take speeds up to 100 km/h. This section already carries high traffic density and is likely to grow substantially in future with the completion of doubling work. The sanctioned speed limit for this line is 100 km/h.

Passenger movement

, Talcher road and

are the busiest railway stations in this section.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuttack - Sambalpur line 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Odisha Railway lines opened in 1998 Transport in Cuttack Transport in Sambalpur