Engine on trial run chugs into Odisha’s Sunakhala station

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Khordha, Sep 18:

About two months after Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the first-ever train to run on the 32 km long Khurda Road-Begunia section of Odisha’s key Khurda-Bolangir railway line at Begunia station on July 16, East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities today conducted a successful trial run of a rail engine on the 9.5 km stretch from Begunia to Raj Sunakhala in Nayagarh district.

A rail engine chugged off on the 9.5 km stretch on a trial run from Begunia to Sunakhala at 12.45 PM today in presence of senior officials of the departments of Chief Engineer Construction, Signal and Safety of the ECoR after a formal puja.

People in large numbers gathered at Raj Sunakhala to watch the arrival of the rail engine. The engine arrived at Raj Sunakhala at around 2 PM. Locals at Raj Sunakhala held a puja on the arrival of the engine by breaking coconuts.

The trial run of the engine brought cheers to the people of Nayagarh got a step closer to getting rail connectivity in the district 22 years after the Khurda-Bolangir railway line project was announced. Train services to Raj Sunakhala will begin by the end of this month, ECoR authorities informed.

“We have successfully conducted trial run of the engine on Begunia to Raj Sunakhala section from Begunia. It will require a week to 10 days to complete the work. After completion of work, Commissioner of Railway Safety will have a check. Only after that we will consider running trains. Arrangements will be made to run train services by the end of this month in this section,” said Sankarshan Nayak, chief engineer, construction of ECoR to reporters.