Bhubaneswar, 27th Oct 2025: The state government’s ambitious Brahmapur-Jaypur Expressway project will also include the construction of a railway line alongside the expressway. The inclusion of a railway line in the expressway project has become a major challenge. While comparatively less land was initially required, constructing a railway line through dense forested and hilly terrain has raised concerns for the government. To address this, it has been decided to assign the responsibility of design preparation to the Railway Department.
According to a recent review meeting regarding the project, once the expressway is completed, the travel time between Brahmapur and Jaypur is expected to reduce from 8 hours to 4 hours.
The expressway will pass through 230 km of hilly terrain, and the Railway Department will be involved in the design preparation.
Goods transport between Visakhapatnam port and Gopalpur port will be accelerated. It is estimated that the route will handle 5 million metric tons of goods annually.
After reviewing proposals from various sources, plans have been finalized to construct the railway line alongside the expressway. As a result, the width of the route will increase from 80 meters to 900 meters.
To achieve this, approximately 2,000 acres of reserved forest land will need to be altered. About 230 km of road will pass through forested areas, and widening the route raises concerns of potential landslides in hilly regions.
For the project, a total of 5,673 acres will be required, including 1,528 acres of government land, 2,492 acres of private land, and 1,352 acres of forest land. With the widening of the route, the costs related to land acquisition and rehabilitation will increase. Therefore, merely extending the project by 200 meters will not be sufficient; engineering challenges in the hilly terrain must be addressed.
In this situation, during the preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the expressway and railway line, it has been decided that both departments—the Road and the Railway—will be fully involved. The Railways will advise the state government, which will then take appropriate action.
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