The Bhubaneswar Metro is a proposed

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

system for the twin cities of

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

and

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In the first phase, a metro trunk route will be created from

SCB Medical College Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital, also known as S.C.B Medical College and Hospital, is a public medical college in Cuttack, Odisha, India. It is named after Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo, a ruler of was of the Mayurbhanj princel ...

in Cuttack to the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.

History

On 27 July 2010, the state transport department said that it had asked

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is a centre-state joint venture that operates the Delhi Metro and Noida Metro. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is also involved in the planning and implementation of metro rail, monorail, and high-speed r ...

(DMRC) to conduct a survey on the possibility of connecting Bhubaneswar and Cuttack by metro rail. On 8 January 2013, E. Sreedharan, principal advisor of

(DMRC), said that a metro rail was unsuitable for

, because it was more suited for cities with more than 2 million in population. He suggested that Bhubaneswar should invest in bus rapid transit system or high speed tramway system instead.

Subhash Singh Singam Subhash Singh (born 1989) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a winger for indian club Sagolband United. Youth career Subhash had to choose between football or weight-lifting as a career option, his father preferred h ...

, then conveyor of Cuttack Banchao Committee, wrote multiple petitions on the same and urged the authorities to reconsider the same keeping in mind population growth in next 50 years. Mr.Singh said " Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri are emerging cities with great potential to become the center of health, sport, manufacturing, technology and tourism in eastern India. Metro project to connect these cities will boost the economic activities of the region and further more will be instrumental in overall socio-economic development of the state". On 9 January 2013, Engineering Projects India Ltd. gave a proposal to the state government about a monorail project between

and

. On 23 August 2014, the state government signed a contract with Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd. (BARSYL) for preparation of a detailed project report for a mass rapid transit system (MRTS) between

and

covering 30 km. BARSYL would get

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

for preparation of the plan to be submitted in ten months. In January 2013, E. Sreedharan stated that Bhubaneswar is not ready yet for metro rail citing its low population. Orissa Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi stated in February 2017 that there was no immediate feasibility for a metro rail system in Bhubaneswar, and a bus rapid transit system would be developed instead. In January 2018, Odisha CM demanded for Metro rail connectivity between

and

. also in June 2019, Governor of

said that the state government will attempt to connect the heritage silver city of

with smart city

by Metro train. In April 2023, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the proposal for the metro train service between Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, and Puri. Odisha CM directed the Housing and Urban Development Department to complete the DPR on a war-footing for the project, which is entirely funded by the

Government of Odisha The Government of Odisha and its Districts of Odisha, 30 districts consists of an executive branch, executive, led by the List of Governors of Odisha, Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the ...

. In August 2023,

was engaged with the responsibility of preparing the DPR. After conducting traffic survey, geo-technical investigation, topo-graphic survey, environmental & social impact assessments, DMRC completed the DPR preparation and submitted to Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena.

Route network

Phase 1

In Phase 1, 20 metro stations may or may not be built on the Line 1 from Trisulia to Biju Patnaik Airport, including Capital Hospital, Sishu Bhawan, Bapuji Nagar,

Bhubaneswar Railway Station Bhubaneswar Railway Station (BBS) serves Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha and it is the headquarters of the East Coast Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It comes under (NSG2) railway stations category of India. History ...

, Ram Mandir Square,

Vani Vihar Vani Vihar is the most famous centre of education in the city of Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The campus of the Utkal University is located at Vani Vihar. The University Law College and the Directorate of Distance and Continuing Education (DDCE) are also ...

, Acharya Vihar Square, Jaydev Vihar Square, Xavier Square, Rail Sadan, District Centre, Damana Square, Patia Square, KIIT Square, Nandan Vihar, Raghunathpur, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Barang Station and Phulapokhari. which would be further extended to Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal in future expansion.

Timeline

* April 2023: Metro project announced for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khordha, and Puri. First metro trunk route proposed, connecting Trisulia near Cuttack to Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar. * May 2023: DPR at last stage of preparation. Government announces that metro construction will start by December 2023. * July 2023: BMRCL in cooperation with DMRC said the soil testing for Bhubaneswar metro would be commenced soon. In the first phase, soil testing will take place between Trisulia and Nandankanan and then the testing will be done till Airport. Soil will be tested every 1 km and digging of 30 m pits maybe required to check the natural and bedrock of soil. * August 2023: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was engaged with the responsibility of preparing the DPR. After conducting traffic survey, geo-technical investigation, topo-graphic survey, environmental & social impact assessments, DMRC completed the DPR preparation and submitted to Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena. A total of 20 stations on a route of 26 kilometers will be constructed, i.e. Biju Patnaik Airport, Capital Hospital, Bapuji Nagar, Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Ram Mandir Square, Vani Vihar, Acharya Vihar, Jaydev Vihar Square, Xavier Square, Rail Sadan, District Centre, Damana Square, Patia Square, KIIT Square, Nandan Vihar, Raghunathpur, Nandankanan Zoological Park, Barang Station, Phulapokhari and Trisulia Square in

. * October 2023: Odisha Chief Minister has approved DPR of the metro project. *January 2024: Chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, inaugurated foundation stone of the project on new year. *March 2024: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation floated tenders for all 19 elevated metro stations. *March 2025: Odisha State Housing & Urban Development Minister announces Metro Rail project extension upto Cuttack city.

References

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History

Route network

Phase 1

Timeline

See also

References