HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Tatanagar–Bilaspur section is part of the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line and connects in the Indian state of
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...
and in Chhattisgarh. Part of one of the major trunk lines in the country, it passes through an industrial-mining area and handles high volumes of freight, particularly coal and iron ore.


Geography

The Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line passes through the Saranda forest on the
Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and the b ...
in southern
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...
. The area through which it passes includes portions of northern
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 Sc ...
and northern Chhattisgarh, with topography similar to that of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. It is generally forested area amidst hills alternating with valleys. The major rivers flowing through the area are: Subarnarekha,
Kharkai Kharkai is an administrative unit, known as Union council, of Malakand District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Its population is near 50000 District Malakand has 2 Tehsils i.e. Swat Ranizai and Sam Ranizai. Each Tehsil comprises ...
, South Karo, South Koel, Sankh, Brahmani, Ib, Mand and Hasdeo. While the eastern portion of this line connects to iron ore mines spread on both sides of the Jharkhand–Odisha border, the western portion caters to the Ib Valley Coalfield in Odisha and the Korba Coalfield in Chhattisgarh. There are three steel plants in the area: the
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...
Works of
Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...
, Rourkela Steel Plant of
SAIL A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...
and Jindal Steel and Power at Raigarh. Bharat Aluminium Company has its plant at Korba. There are several engineering units on this line, as for example
Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...
at Jamshedpur, Tata Growth Shop and
Tayo Rolls Tayo Rolls Limited (formerly Tata-Yodogawa Limited) is a metal fabrication and processing company headquartered in Jamshedpur, India, and a subsidiary of Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based ...
at Adityapur, and
Larsen & Toubro Larsen & Toubro Ltd, commonly known as L&T, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, with business interests in engineering, construction, manufacturing, technology, information technology and financial services, headquartered in Mumb ...
at Kansbahal. The line extends support to numerous cement plants, power plants, refractory units, ferro alloy plants and a paper mill.
Kalinganagar Kalinganagar is a planned industrial and modern town in Jajpur district of coastal Odisha, India. It is rich in iron ore. Because of high global demand for steel, Kalinganagar is becoming a major global hub in steel, power and ancillary prod ...
is an upcoming industrial hub in
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 Sc ...
.


History

The Howrah–Allahabad–Mumbai line, a joint effort of
Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...
and
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, Ba ...
came up in 1870. The
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 ...
was formed in 1887 for the purpose of upgrading the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway and then extending it via Bilaspur to
Asansol Asansol is a (Tier-II) metropolitan city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest and most populated city of West Bengal and the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Ba ...
, in order to develop a shorter Howrah–Mumbai route than the one via Allahabad. The Bengal Nagpur Railway main line from Nagpur to Asansol, on the
Howrah–Delhi main line The Howrah–Delhi main line is a railway line connecting Delhi and Kolkata cutting across northern India. The railway line was opened to traffic in 1866 with the introduction of the "1 Down/2 Up Mail" train. Sections The long trunk line, ha ...
, was opened for goods traffic on 1 February 1891. One of the last hurdles for the track was construction of the Saranda Tunnel. It was completed on 1 October 1892. The tunnel pierces the narrow divide between the Subarnarekha and the Brahmani basins. The long
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
Champa–Korba–Gevra Road branch line was constructed between 1953 and 1956.


Railway reorganization

The
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 ...
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, Ba ...
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 jun ...
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 The South East Central Railway (abbreviated SECR) is one of the 19 Railway Zones in India. The Zone Office is headquartered at Bilaspur and comprises the Bilaspur, Nagpur and Raipur Division. History This Zone was formerly part of the South ...
. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway.


Jurisdiction

The mainline from Tatanagar to Jharsuguda, and all branch lines within this portion except Juruli–Jakhapura section are within the jurisdiction of Chakradharpur railway division of South Eastern Railway. The Ib–Bilaspur section of the mainline is under the jurisdiction of Bilaspur railway division of South East Central Railway. Juruli–Jakhapura section is under the jurisdiction of East Coast railway.


Movement of steel plant raw materials

'' Frontline'' paid rich tributes to Bengal Nagpur Railway/South Eastern Railway: "As it expanded its network at a rapid pace to help in the exploitation of the rich mineral resources in the region. New lines were laid and connections made to facilitate the movement of iron ore to the new steel plants – TISCO and IISCO at Tatanagar and Burnpur respectively. To tap the coal reserves in Jharia, a 115-mile-long (184 km) line connecting Midnapore with Bhojudih was set up in 1903 and extended to Gomoh in 1907. In 1922, the Talcher coalfields were linked by a rail line taking off from Nergundi on the East Coast. The Raipur-Vizianagaram link was completed in 1931, connecting the East Coast with the Central Province. Following these developments, the BNR Company owned the largest narrow gauge network in the country… "As independent India embarked on a policy of rapid industrialisation, the SER took upon the task of moving raw materials by constructing new lines from plants to the mine heads at Dallhirajra, Ahiwara, Barsuan, Kiriburu and Meghataburu. Doubling of sections and progressive electrification were taken up along with the setting up of marshalling yards and exchange yards to meet the demands of the steel sector."


Electrification

The entire line is
electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
but that came in stages. The Purulia–Chakradharpur, Kandra–Gomharria, Sini–Adityapur, Adityapur–Tatanagar, Chakradharpur–Manoharpur and Manoharpur–Rourkela sections were electrified in 1961–62. The Rourkela–Jharsuguda, Jharsuguda–Raigarh and Raigarh–Bilaspur sections were electrified in 1969–70. Amongst the branch lines the Rajkharsawan–Dangoaposi section was electrified in 1960–61. It was extended to Noamundi in 1965–66. The Padapahar–Deojhar and Noamundi–Barajamda sections were electrified in 1966–67, and the same year electrification was extended to Gua and Bolanikhadan. The branch line between Rajkharswan and Dongoaposi was amongst the first routes on the Indian Railways to be electrified with 25 kV-AC traction. The Bondamunda–Lathikata and Lathikata–Chandiposh sections were electrified in 1996–97 and electrification was extended to Bimalagarh in 1997–1998. It was further extended to Barsuan and Rangra the same year. The Rourkela–Biramitrapur section was electrified in 1964–65. The Champa–Korba section was electrified in 1987–88 and electrification was extended to Gevra Road in 1988–89.


Passenger movement

Tatanagar Tatanagar Junction railway station, station code TATA, is the main railway station serving the city of Jamshedpur in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is located on the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line of the Indian Railways. It has 6 platforms an ...
, Rourkela and Bilaspur on this line are amongst the top hundred booking stations of Indian Railway.


Freight traffic


Iron ore

Iron ore is the second largest commodity moved by the railways in India, accounting for 16% of total freight traffic. (Coal is number one with a 43% share). 116 million million tonnes of iron ore was moved in 2006–07 which included 38.84 million tonnes of iron ore for export. In 2010–11 South-East Railway earned Rs 8,187 crore in freight charges, of which Rs 5,135 crore was from iron ore transportation. Apart from domestic consumption, iron ore from the mines in Odisha and Jharkhand is exported through Haldia, Visakhapatnam, Paradeep and Gangavaram ports. Bengal Iron and Steel Co. started iron mining at Pansiraburu in their Duia mines in 1901. Initially the iron ore was transported over hilly terrain and through thick forests in bullock carts to the nearest rail head at Manoharpur. The ore was consumed in the Kulti Works, which then produced iron. In 1910, the ''Manoharpur Light Railway'' was built from Manoharpur to the foot of Pansira Buru. It was extended to Chiria in 1916. A branch line from Tatanagar to Gorumahisani (on the Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line) was opened to traffic in 1911 mainly for transportation of iron ore. The Rajkharswan–Dongoaposi line was opened in 1924 and extended to Gua in 1925, primarily to transport iron ore and manganese ore for
IISCO Steel Plant IISCO Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Limited is an integrated steel plant located at Burnpur, a neighbourhood in Asansol city, in the Asansol subdivision of Paschim Bardhaman district, West Bengal, India. Overview IISCO Steel Plant o ...
at Burnpur. In 1936, the ''Manoharpur Light Railway'' owned 34 locomotives, 5 railcars and 360 goods wagons. Tata Steel started the iron mines at
Noamundi Noamundi is a census town in West Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also an administrative block. It is a small mining town located close to the Odisha border. It lies near Jamshedpur and from Chaibasa. Nearby towns incl ...
in 1925 and that has been the major source of its iron ore for many years. It has also been getting iron ore from its Joda mines for around half a century. The long
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
Noamundi–Banspani line was constructed between 1956 and 1958. The Jhakpura–Daitari line was opened for traffic in 1977 and the Banspani–Tomka line was added in 1998. Rourkela was connected to Barsuan iron ore mines (the township is Tensa) in 1960 and the line was extended to Kiriburu in 1963. Barsuan, commissioned in 1960,
Kiriburu Kiriburu is a census town in Jharkhand. The town is mainly known for having big Iron-ore Mines KIOM (Kiriburu Iron-Ore Mine) & MIOM (Meghahatuburu Iron-Ore Mine)both governed by Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The road connecting the t ...
, commissioned in 1964, Meghahatuburu, commissioned in 1985, and Bolani, commissioned in 1960, are iron ore mines on this track administered by the Raw Materials Division of
Steel Authority of India Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is a central public sector undertaking based in New Delhi, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Steel, Government of India with an annual turnover of INR 1,03,480 Crore (US$13 billion) for fis ...
. Numerous private operators are engaged in iron ore mining, quite often for exports. Construction of the line between Jakhapura, on the Howrah–Chennai line, and Daitari was sanctioned in 1976–77. It was commissioned in 1981. The -long Daitari–Banspani line was sanctioned in 1992–93 to facilitate transportation of iron ore for export through Paradip Port. The Banspani–Kendujhar section was operational in 2004. The Kendujhar–Tomka section was operational in 2007. Passenger trains started plying on this route in 2009.


Coal

The Gevra mine of the Korba Coalfield, the largest open cast mine in Asia, is served by the Champa–Gevra Road branch line. As of 2011 Gevra mine had a capacity of 35 million tonnes per annum and along with Dipka and Kusmunda mine the area had a total annual capacity of 70 million tonnes. The 2010 production level of the Ib Valley Coalfield, served by this line, was 38 million tonnes but was expected to rise sharply over the years. The Mand Raigarh Coalfield does not have a rail link (as of 2012). Construction of the -long Bhupdeopur–Korichhapar/Baroud–Dharamjaygarh with an extension up to the Champa–Korba branch line is essential for the transportation of around 100 million tonnes of coal planned annually from Mand Raigarh Coalfield. South Eastern Coalfields Limited will fund this project. Construction of the long Jharsuguda–Barpalli rail line is essential for transportation of coal from the Ib Valley Coalfield with a potential of 90 million tonnes per annum. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited will fund this project.
South East Central Railway The South East Central Railway (abbreviated SECR) is one of the 19 Railway Zones in India. The Zone Office is headquartered at Bilaspur and comprises the Bilaspur, Nagpur and Raipur Division. History This Zone was formerly part of the South ...
, the railway zone handling coal transportation mentioned above, is the largest freight-loading zonal railway in India. It handled a revenue-earning freight traffic of 150.7 million tonnes in 2011–12 and the coal throughput was 112.5 million tonnes (against 104.4 million tonnes in the previous financial year).


Speed limits

The entire Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line is classified as a "Group A" line which can take speeds up to 130 km/hr. The Rajakharshwan–Dongoaposi–Padapahar–Barajamda–Gua, Bondamunda–Bimlagarh–Barsuan–Kiriburu, Kandra–Gamharria, Champa–Gevra Road and Padapahar–Banspani branch lines are classified as "Group E Special" lines where traffic density is very high or likely to grow substantially in future and the present sanctioned speed is less than 100 km/hr.


New line surveys

New line surveys of Indian Railway to be taken up during 2012–13 in this section include Champa–Abhimanpur bypass line, Bilaspur–Dongargarh via Uslapur Mungeli, Korba–Ranchi, Renukoot–Korba via Ambikapur Katghora, Bilaspur–Gatora–Dipka–Katghora, Pendra–Gevra Road via Katghora, Banspani–Barbil, Banspani–Barsuan.


New railway station project

Shifting of Banspani station to Joda Town. Amid a growing demand for shifting of Banspani railway station to Joda Town of Keonjhar district of Odisha, a delegation from the railways visited the area Thursday 10 May 2019. Banspani is considered an important railway station of Joda Mining Sector of Odisha, under South Eastern railway in terms of freight services. Daily, lakhs of tonnes of minerals are transported from this station to various parts of the country. Even passengers trains operate to various major destinations like Kacheguda(Hyderabad), Visakhapattanam, Bhubaneswar, Tatanagar, Rourkela. But distance between town and the station is creating issue due to improper distance, and pollution. A delegation of the railways led by top officials like SK Singh, GK Sahu took stock of the area from Banspani to Bachu Hutting on 10/05/2019. "If the railway station is shifted to Joda town, passengers will feel it easy, and it can be a major station of this region in future." they added. Head of the delegation SK Singh said that technical aspect of the proposal is being checked and a report will be submitted to the higher authorities soon.


References


External links

, {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatanagar - Bilaspur section 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in India Rail transport in Jharkhand Rail transport in Odisha Rail transport in Chhattisgarh * * * Transport in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh Transport in Jamshedpur