Howrah–Chennai main line

During the period 1893 to 1896, 1,287 km (800 mi) of East Coast State Railway was built and opened to traffic. It necessitated construction of some of the largest bridges across rivers like Brahmani, Kathajodi, Kuakhai and Birupa. Bengal Nagpur Railway's line to Cuttack was fully opened after completion of the bridge over the Mahanadi in 1901.^[6]

The 514 km (319 mi) long northern section of the East Coast State Railway was merged with BNR in 1902.^[7]

The Khurda Road–Puri section was opened to traffic on 1 February 1897.^[6]

The Khurda Road–Puri section have double lines in operation since July 2015.^[8]

Mayurbhanj links

"Work has been begun by the Bengal–Nagpur Railway on the construction of a line from Kalimati to Gurumaishini hill, from which the iron ore is to be obtained."^[9](Kalimati later became Jamshedpur/Tatanagar). That was the railway's early foray into Mayurbhanj State. (Details of the Tatanagar–Gourmahisani line are available in Asansol–Tatanagar–Kharagpur line.)

However, even before that Mayurbhanj State Railway linked Rupsa on the Howrah–Chennai main line with Baripada through a narrow-gauge line in 1905 and then extended it further.^[10] In his The East Coast, Ian Manning has jotted down the experience of his travel in the narrow-gauge train. The Rupsa–Baripada–Bangriposi line was converted to broad gauge between 1996 and 2006.^[10]

Paradip and other port links

The foundation stone of the Cuttack–Paradip line was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 31 January 1962. It was opened to traffic in 1973.^[6]

Opened in 1966, Paradip Port has laid out plans to expand its cargo-handling capacity from 76 million tonnes annually to 237 million tonnes by 2020. The entrance and approach channels are being deepened to handle vessels up to 1,25,000 DWT (slightly smaller than capesize vessels).^[11][12]

Dhamra Port, opened in 2011, has the capacity to handle capesize vessels up to 1,80,000 DWT. It is linked to Bhadrak with a 62 km long railway line. It is a joint venture of Larsen & Toubro and Tata Steel.^[13][14][15]

Apart from Dhamra, new ports are coming up at Kirtania at the mouth of the Subarnarekha, Astaranga in Puri district and Chudamani in Bhadrak district^[16] The 41 km long newly sanctioned line connecting Digha in West Bengal with Jaleswar on the Kharagpur–Puri line is expected to serve the new port at Kirtania.^[17] Astaranga port will be connected to Bhubaneswar New Station on the Khurda Road–Puri line.^[18]

Coalfield and iron ore mines links

Talcher Coalfield with reserves of 38.65 billion tonnes, the highest in India,^[19] is located on the Cuttack–Sambalpur line.

The Barbil–Joda region is the highest iron ore-producing region in the country, with an annual output of around 40 million tonnes of lump and fines.^[20] This region, as well as the Daitari-Kalinganagar mining-industrial region is linked through the Padapahar–Jakhapura and Rajkharsawan–Barbil lines. (See Tatanagar–Bilaspur section for more information.)