Indian Railways Approves ₹440 Crore Third Line Between Nimpura and Midnapur on South Eastern Railway
Indian Railways has approved a ₹440 crore project to construct a 14.52-km third railway line between Nimpura West Outer Cabin and Midnapur on South Eastern Railway, aimed at increasing freight capacity and easing congestion on the corridor.
The section forms part of the High Utilisation Network (HUN-2) route in Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, under the Kharagpur railway division. The Nimpura West Outer Cabin-Gokulpur stretch currently operates as a single line, with doubling works already underway; the new third line is intended to further augment capacity and improve operational flexibility.
The corridor handles a mix of passenger and freight traffic, carrying commodities including manganese, iron ore, containers, coal, clinker, pellets, steel, wheat, petroleum products, fertilisers and cement. It currently handles close to 23.80 MTPA of freight, with line capacity utilisation at 115.71 percent, indicating heavy congestion.
Once completed, the project is expected to support an additional 3.52 MTPA of freight traffic, reduce bottlenecks and improve movement of both passenger and freight trains on the corridor.
The project forms part of a broader set of capacity augmentation initiatives being carried out across South Eastern Railway in West Bengal, with the state currently having 43 railway infrastructure projects worth ₹60,168 crore under various stages of planning, approval and construction across Eastern Railway, South Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway zones.