Gunupur railway station

Gunupur railway station belongs to East Coast Railway of Waltair division.Maharaja of Paralakhemundi extended Naupada-Paralakhemundi line to Gunupur in 1931 AD. It is located at Gunupur in Rayagada district of Indian state of Odisha. Established by His highness Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati of Paralakhemundi estate.

Gunupur
Indian Railways station
Indian Railways logo
General information
LocationGunupur, Rayagada district, Odisha
 India
Coordinates19°24′43″N 83°29′01″E / 19.412°N 83.4837°E / 19.412; 83.4837
Elevation92 metres (302 ft)
Owned byIndian Railways
Operated byEast Coast Railways
Line(s)Naupada-Gunupur section
Platforms2
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeStandard on ground
ParkingYes
Other information
StatusFunctioning
Station codeGNPR
Zone(s) East Coast Railway zone
Division(s) Waltair
History
Opened1931; 93 years ago (1931)
ElectrifiedYes
Location
Gunupur railway station is located in Odisha
Gunupur railway station
Gunupur railway station
Location in Odisha
Gunupur railway station is located in India
Gunupur railway station
Gunupur railway station
Location in India

History edit

Parlakimedi Light Railway was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge railway. The Raja of Parlakimedi decided to connect his capital with Naupada which was only 40 km away. With the government giving its sanction in 1898, work began in full. The line was opened to traffic in 1900. This railway line was built at a cost of Rs 700,000. In the starting years, the Parlakhimidi Railway had incurred losses but after 1910, it started making marginal profits and after 1924–25, the profits increased. This motivated the Raja to extend the line to Gunupur in two phases in 1929 and 1931. It was later merged with Bengal Nagpur Railway.[1] The narrow-gauge line was converted to broad gauge in the year 2011.

Railway reorganization edit

After Indian Independence it was merged with North Eastern Railway. surveys were undertaken for broad gauge conversion in 1950 and again in 1964 and 1967. The foundation stone was finally laid for the Naupada–Gunupur gauge conversion work at Naupada on 27 September 2002. With effect from 1 April 2003 it became a part of the newly formed East Coast Railway. The line was finally closed for gauge conversion on 9 June 2004.

After a long wait, the work was completed and the first train from Gunupur, on broad-gauge line started on 21 August 2011. Services were restarted on 21 August 2011 with the introduction of Puri–Gunupur Passenger.[2][3]

Trains edit

As of January 2019, there are four trains to and from Gunupur. Trains running from Gunupur railway station include:[4][better source needed]

  • 58418 Gunupur–Puri PASS Dep-0625 hrs
  • 58505 Gunupur–Visakhapatnam PASS Dep-1340 hrs
  • 58428 Gunupur–Palasa PASS Dep-2110 hrs
  • 18118 GNPR ROU–RAJYARANI EXP (DEP-1515)

References edit

  1. ^ Singh, Vikas (July 2007). "The Parlakimedi Light Railway and its Locomotives". IRFCA.
  2. ^ Rao, R. Jagadeeswara (18 November 2016). "Broad gauge line ready for trial run". The Hindu.
  3. ^ Pattnaik, Satyanarayan (22 August 2011). "Gunupur–Puri train service starts, Rayagada elated". Times of India.
  4. ^ "Gunupur to Naupada Jn Trains". Erail.in.

External links edit