New Delhi, July 2 (AHN) The Indian Railways has approved two projects with an investment of Rs 409 crore, which include the construction of a rail flyover in the Rourkela-Bondamunda section and an advanced Electronic Interlocking project across 20 locations in the Malda Division of Eastern Railway to improve rail safety, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.

In a significant boost to freight capacity and operational efficiency, the construction of a 4.59 km rail flyover from Bondamunda 'A' Cabin to Bondamunda Link 'B' Cabin in the South Eastern Railway will be taken up at a cost of Rs 135 crore.

The project is aimed at decongesting the important Rourkela-Bondamunda section, an industrial corridor witnessing rapidly increasing freight traffic due to expanding mining and steel production activities.

The Rourkela-Bondamunda section is expected to experience substantial growth in freight movement owing to the expansion of SAIL's Barsua-Taldih-Kalta mining complex, enhanced production at Rourkela Steel Plant, and the planned doubling of this High-Density Network (HDN) route.

To accommodate the anticipated increase in rail traffic, the railways have sanctioned the construction of the new rail flyover, which will facilitate seamless train movement while minimising crossing conflicts between passenger and freight services, the statement said.

Upon commissioning, the project is expected to facilitate handling of an additional 8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of freight traffic, strengthening evacuation of minerals and industrial products while supporting future growth in freight transportation.

The second project related to the replacement of relay-based interlocking with advanced electronic interlocking (EI) at 20 locations in the Malda Division of the Eastern Railway will involve an investment of Rs 274 crore.

The project will replace the existing relay room/panel interlocking system with EI at 18 railway stations and 2 intermediate block signalling locations situated on high-utilisation network routes of the Eastern Railway.

The sanctioned project covers the replacement of conventional relay-based signalling systems with state-of-the-art EI technology across 20 operational locations, comprising 18 stations and two intermediate block signalling locations in the Malda Division.

The modernisation will significantly improve the reliability, efficiency and maintainability of signalling systems while creating a robust technological foundation for handling increasing passenger and freight traffic on one of the Eastern Railway's busiest corridors.

Electronic interlocking is an advanced fail-safe signalling technology that automates route-setting and signalling functions while substantially reducing the possibility of equipment failures and human error. The upgraded system will improve operational flexibility, minimise service disruptions, enable quicker restoration during faults and enhance punctuality.

The project will strengthen train safety, improve operational efficiency and support faster and more reliable train movement on high-utilisation network routes, while also providing better readiness for future technologies such as Kavach and other modern signalling systems, the statement added.