DELHI (Metro Rail News): Indian Railways gave a green signal to Rs 755 crore railway project to construct a railway line between Chamba and Korba. This project will improve India’s busiest coal transport routes and it will also help in handling more freight trains in the future. The 42 km Champa-Korba Third Line Project will be developed under the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone.
The project does not include the Madwarani-Saragbundia section, which Indian Railways had already approved earlier. Indian Railways identified the corridor under its Mission 3000 MT and High-Density Network (HDN) programs.
Important link for coal transportation
Korba is very important to India’s energy sector and it is also known as the power capital of India because of the largest number of thermal power plants. The Champa-Korba route links coal mines operated by South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) with the national railway network and the busy Mumbai-Howrah High Density Corridor. Currently, this section manages:
- About 10 pairs of passenger trains daily
- Around 55 pairs of freight trains daily
Coal production in the SECL and MCL regions stands at approximately 247 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Officials are expecting that this number will rise to nearly 450 MTPA in the future, adding about 200 MTPA of extra coal traffic to the rail network.
Benefits of this project
The third line will enhance capacity on the route and give Indian Railways more flexibility to manage both passenger and freight operations. Project estimates suggest the new line will:
- Support 5.95 MTPA of freight trains movement
- Allow the operation of two additional passenger trains in each direction daily
Indian Railways is also expecting the project to generate additional annual net earnings of around Rs 85 crore. Freight services could also contribute about Rs 82 crore, while passenger and coaching services might add around Rs 3 crore.
Reduced delays and better efficiency
Freight trains are currently facing delays of nearly five minutes in each direction on this section because of capacity limits. The new line will help cut these stoppages and enhance overall operations. Indian Railways estimate that reduced detention time could lead to operational savings of around Rs 1.30 crore each year.
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