In the rail budget for 2010-11, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced to conduct the survey of new line between Chirimiri (Chhattisgarh) and Barwadih (Jharkhand). The proposal to connect the two mineral rich pockets by rail has been pending for more than eight decade.

Highly placed sources in the railway ministry told Business Standard that the Britishers were the first to moot the proposal way back in 1925 to connect Chirimiri and Barwadih, both coal rich areas, by rail. The plan was aimed to facilitate transportation of minerals.

The Britishers knew the importance of the rail line and the work on the project was started in the early 1930s after conducting the survey, sources added. The required land for the project was also acquired. But the work was stopped during the World War II and the project had been pending since then, sources said.

The new rail line would connect Howrah via Latehar, Dhanbad and Mumbai via Jabalpur, Itarsi. It would help reducing the rail distance between the two Metros. At present, both the Metros are connected by two different rail routes one via Nagpur, Raipur and another via Itarsi, Jabalpur.

Source: Business-standard Proposed new rail line to bring Mumbai, Kolkata closer