Patna, The Railway Board has sanctioned ₹170 billion rupees for the construction of third and fourth railway lines on the busy 400km Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction–Patna–Kiul–Jhajha corridor, one of the most congested sections of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor feeder route and a vital passenger artery in Bihar.
The mega project, expected to commence in March 2026.
The approval, among the largest single-line addition projects in eastern India in recent years, aims to ease chronic capacity constraints on the Howrah–Delhi main line stretch that passes through Bihar. The route currently operates at over 140 per cent utilisation during peak hours, leading to widespread delays for both freight and passenger services.
To accelerate execution, the Railway Board has divided the work into six phased segments:
– Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction–Danapur
– Danapur–Fatuha
– Fatuha–Bakhtiyarpur
– Bakhtiyarpur–Punarakh
– Punarakh–Kiul
– Kiul–Jhajha
The first phase, covering the 24km Fatuha–Bakhtiyarpur section, has been allocated ₹9.31 billion, including land acquisition costs for approximately 6.6 hectares. A second 30km segment between Bakhtiyarpur and Punarakh has been allotted ₹3.92 billion.
In densely built-up areas around Patna, where land availability is severely limited, engineers plan to remove two existing stabling lines between Danapur and Patna and replace them with the new third and fourth main lines. Between Patna and Patna City, an innovative reversible third line is proposed to maximise throughput without additional land take.
Upon completion, the quadrupled section is expected to substantially enhance connectivity between eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, boost freight evacuation towards Haldia and Paradip ports, and provide much-needed relief to long-distance passenger trains on the Howrah–New Delhi route.
The project forms part of Indian Railways’ broader push to expand capacity on saturated golden quadrilateral and diagonal routes ahead of the full operationalisation of the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors.
