The Indian Railways have a number of routes which have goods traffic but little or no passenger traffic. Here are the route details for some of them. This is not supposed to be comprehensive. Details of port lines will be given in a subsequent article.
Ranippettai
Was in timetables earlier, now being revived for goods.
Remember that Walajah Road was the first terminus for trains starting from Madras. It was called Arcot at that time.
Bengdubi:
For military traffic.
Gadchandur:
Manikgarh is just south of Balharshah. This route does not seem to have had any passenger trains. It is primarily for cement traffic.
Ghoradongri:
This siding connecting Sarni town has existed for a long time. However, the distance is not mentioned here.
Ghugus:
The Tadali-Ghugus section was listed in timetables of the 1970s. Now it only has goods services. There was/is a cement factory at Ghugus.
Husainiwala:
This was part of the Ferozepore-Lahore route in the past. Nowadays it has DMU services once a year where pilgrims come to commemorate the sacrifices of Bhagat Singh and others.
Motumari-Jaggayapeta-Vishnupuram:
This was opened in the 80s to connect a cement plant at Jaggayapeta. It was later extended to Vishnupuram on the Nadikude-Bibinagar section. This could provide a connection with the North-South route with a point on the latter. So far, no passenger train has run here. This is apparently because low MPS on part of this route.
Palasthali:
Was earlier in the timetable.
Panipat Refinery:
Bhauli has not had passenger service.
Majri-Rajur:
Majri-Rajur was earlier in the timetable. Passenger trains still run from Majri to Wani and then to Pimpalkhuti and Adilabad. And coal trains still run from Rajur colliery.
Tirap siding:
Better known as the eastern-most point served by IR. It is a coal loading point. The closed Lekhapani station is a few km further east on an unconverted MG line.
Tuli:
Tuli is in Nagaland. The Amguri-Tuli section was earlier in the timetable with passenger services.
Butibori-Umred:
Was constructed long ago when Umred was on the Nagpur-Nagbhir NG line. Umred Colliery is a few km short of Umred station. So far no passenger trains have run here. This extension could open up another route for trains from Nagpur towards the south-east.
Ranajitpura:
For iron ore traffic. Ranajitpura station is located in the town of Donnamalai Township. This has never had passenger trains. Tornagallu is the site of the Vijayanagar airport.
Swamihalli:
Also for iron ore traffic. Vyasa Colony is the replacement for the closed Gunda Road junction which had an unsatisfactory location for BG traffic. Swamihalli was an MG terminus earlier.
Karampada:
Another iron ore line. The section beyond Karampada to Kiriburu and Meghataburu is closed.
The station Rakshi serves a place commonly spelt as Roxy.
An unofficial passenger service has sometimes operated here with a coach attached to a goods train. Even otherwise, local people are known to travel on the goods trains.
Daitari:
Not listed in the timetable. A number of steel plants were to come up near Daitari.
Tiger Hill:
Colliery line in Chhattisgarh.
If one studies the old maps of the Dhanbad coalfields area, you can see many routes where passenger trains have not run or a long time (or never). Jharia is one station which is unlikely to see any restoration of traffic.
There are a few short routes which are not covered here. In most cases they are built to connect mines or heavy industries.
NTPC runs a few long lines with intermediate stations, though they are not part of IR.
The lines connecting ports will be covered in part 2.
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