Bengal: Third line between Nimpura and Midnapur to ease congestion

Kolkata, July 23 (IANS) In a step that will further boost the freight handling capability of South Eastern Railway (SER), Indian Railways has approved the construction of the 14.52 km third line between Nimpura West Outer Cabin and Midnapur station for Rs 440 crore.

This capacity augmentation will provide a major boost to industries already operating in the area as well as proposed ones. The section forms part of the High Utilisation Network (HUN‑2) route, where the Nimpura West Outer Cabin–Gokulpur section is presently a single line, while doubling works are in progress.

The additional third line will substantially augment line capacity and improve operational flexibility on this strategically important corridor.

SER handles substantial volumes of passenger and freight traffic along this section, which has line capacity utilisation of 115.71 per cent, resulting in severe congestion.

The key commodities moved in this section are manganese, iron ore, containers, coal, clinker, pellet iron, iron and steel, wheat, stone, sleepers, slag, salt, rice, petroleum products, limestone, gypsum, fertilisers, edible oil, chemical salt, charcoal, cement, ballast and ash, with an overall freight loading of nearly 23.80 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).

The third line will create additional capacity to accommodate growing passenger and freight traffic while improving operational efficiency across the corridor. Once completed, the project is expected to facilitate additional freight traffic of 3.52 MTPA.

The enhanced infrastructure will improve movement of essential commodities, reduce operational bottlenecks, increase network reliability and strengthen connectivity for industries and businesses dependent on this important rail corridor, Indian Railways said in a statement.

This forms part of Indian Railways’ continued efforts to augment network capacity on high‑density routes to facilitate faster movement of passenger and freight trains while supporting the growing transportation needs of industries and essential commodities.

–IANS

jg/dan