Railways plan to start some Puri trains from Malatipatpur station

BHUBANESWAR: In order to reduce the burden on Puri station, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) is planning to start some Puri-originating trains from Malatipatpur station located on the outskirts of Puri town.
Malatipatpur, only 7 km away from Puri station, is situated beside the National Highway (NH).

ECoR sources said a concept paper has been prepared to start some trains from this station instead of Puri station. The Railways is proposing an additional coach maintenance facility at Malatipatpur before starting the services.

Malatipatpur has a big station building established before Nabakalebara festival to handle the passenger services. It has lines for keeping the idle coaches till departure of the trains. New works are under pipeline, said a senior railway officer, adding, “Some trains can start from here and end their journey at this station. Some express and intercity trains can be started from here.”

The beautiful inter-state bus terminal is situated on the opposite side of the station. There is a wide foot over bridge connecting the station and terminal. It will help the passengers to board the train from this place.

Sometimes tourist special trains run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) originate and terminate their journey at this station.

Puri has eight platforms. It is one of the busiest stations of ECoR, which manages 56 trains daily. The station had received 86, 42,854 passengers and earned more than Rs 165 crore from ticketing last year.

But Malatipatpur is less crowded. It has witnessed footfall of 19,526 passengers with an earning of Rs 2, 84,145 from ticketing last year. This station can handle the Puri passengers, said a railway officer.

“This proposal will help decongest Puri railway station. We can overcome the constraints of platform and path congestions at Puri. We will also take cooperation from the district authorities and road transport officials to start the services from Maltipatpur station,” said a senior officer.